


Chains of Fate

by Misty_K



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Cults, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Drama, Guilt, Kidnapping, Love/Hate, M/M, Obsession, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parallels, Past Lives, Psychological Torture, Recovered Memories, Retained Traits, Romance, School, connection, familiarity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-23 22:18:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 35,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10728396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misty_K/pseuds/Misty_K
Summary: Lucian led a mostly normal life, lived through what a typical student experienced and dreaded school life as well. That was when he met him, an older boy taller and paler than him, the top of his head a hairdresser's nightmare and those deep, dark eyes that he found so very familiar.





	1. Prologue

"Ryuzaki!"

Light rushed forward as the detective falls out of his chair, embracing him upon hitting the ground. The whole room was thrown into chaos as Light righted himself, holding L's prone body in his arms.

"Ryuzaki, get a hold of yourself!" Light cried anxiously, looking down at the detective that seemed stunned into blankness. But Light could see a flicker of emotion beyond the glassy, black orbs.

He could see _pain_.

L's lips parted, as if trying to say something to him, but nothing came out. It was a silent cry.

Light felt a stirring within his heart at the sight.

He held L even tighter, .

It's too late.

"I'm sorry," he whispered by the detective's ear, holding back a sob.

L seemed to still at those words.

Light felt a weak hand fist in his shirt.

L heard him.

He knew.

_It's too late._

"I'm sorry," he murmured again, burying his face in L's shoulder, "I'm sorry, L."

He felt a wave of hate directed towards him from the dying man. No amount of apologies could excuse him from what he did.

He heard a quiet gasp from the him, it was so low that Light almost couldn't hear it.

"I trusted… you."

Those were the last words he breathed.

Light gasped, pulling back to look at L.

His eyes were closed.

Light heard his breathing go still.

He's dead.

Light shuddered as he could only stare.

Stare at the love of his life.

His L that he killed.

He lost it.

Light screamed.

He could hear nothing.

See nothing.

Nothing but his own screams.

Nothing but his dead lover in his arms.

His lover that he killed.

He killed his everything.

He kept screaming.

* * *

_Pain._

_Desperation._

_Hopelessness._

Light grunted as he clutched his injured shoulder, feeling blood trickling out of his wound. He stumbled along the abandoned, empty building. Light panted as he struggled to put his next foot forward. His energy had been depleted from the running. He winced as throbbing pain shot through his body. It felt as though he's on fire. He almost fell as he took another step, taking a laboured breath.

Light looked up and spotted metal stairs that led to the next floor.

He had no destination in mind. So he kept walking.

Light climbed the first few steps painfully.

_Just keep walking._

Light panted, half-leaning on the railings. He grunted as he took another step.

_I'm not dead._

Light cried out as he collapsed on the steps. Blood stained the surface. He tried to push himself up, to keep going.

He can't.

Not anymore.

Light groaned and turned to lie on his back, staring up at the sky through a hole in the dilapidated roof. It glowed a beautiful orange. A sunset. The sign of an ending.

His ending.

Alone.

Light let a wry smile show on his face.

A fitting end for him. Dying alone in an abandoned warehouse, broken, cornered.

A painful throb began in his chest, stacking up with all of his agony. His breath hitched as he rode out the last excruciating moments of his life.

His vision blurred as his life ebbed away.

A figure stood in the outskirts of his vision.

_Who was that?_

He focused with effort, seeing familiar baggy clothes, tracing a figure that he had seen a million times before. That hair… Only one person he knew have that kind of hair.

Light struggled with his muddled brain to place his identity.

_Ryuzaki?_

He opened his mouth to speak but only a weak grunt of pain escaped his lips.

L stared at him coldly, his eyes were blank, guarded.

"I did not come of my own accord, if Kira-kun was wondering."

_What are you doing here, then?_

L silently raised his arm, where a clink of metal could be heard.

Light traced the line of his arm to see a silver cuff rounding his wrist. He followed it only to see that the other end is attached to his own arm.

_What?_

"We share the same fate, remember?" L said, "Now I'm stuck with you for as long as time allow."

Light's head fell back, resting on the steps as his strength waned.

L stepped forward and looked down at him, "It's only fitting that I witness you suffer at the end, Kira-kun."

_I suppose._

Light's eyelids drooped while L watched on nonchalantly.

_Hey L._

"Yes?"

_Could you not call me that?_

"Call you what, Kira-kun?"

_… Never mind._

A last stab of pain shot down his spine, causing him to shudder involuntarily.

L stared on, something shifting beneath those black eyes that Light couldn't place.

"Goodbye, Raito-kun."

_Bye, Ryuzaki._

Then all was black.


	2. Lucian Yanagi

It was a particularly sunny day, just a few weeks left until highly anticipated summer break. It was lunchtime in the Eastwood school grounds, where it was a special institute with the joint operation of middle school and high school. The cafeteria were filled with mostly kids from the lower grades, as the seniors have a later break from them.

It was noisy, filled with the chatters and laughter of the students as they dig into their much awaited meals.

A boy with African-American origin was carrying his tray back to his seat, his large, stocky figure squeezing through the rows of tables and benches, narrowly avoiding some kids who have a tendency to gesticulate as they told their stories.

He spotted his two friends who were caught up in their own conversation and let out a silent sigh of relief.

Almost there.

A child who was a grade lower than him swung his arm out, apparently attempting to reenact a scene in his favorite, barely missing the larger, well built teen who proceeded to run into another obstacle with a loud crash, food clattering to the floor around him.

"Hey watch it!"

He let out a small gasp when he realized who he had run into.

He raised his head and found himself staring into the dreaded green eyes of Thomas Walsh, the infamous child in the same grade as he is and as built as him, which is a rarity in their age group.

Incidentally, Thomas is also the biggest bully in middle school with an exceptionally bad temper.

Which is to say that he is most certainly doomed.

Thomas glanced down at his red jacket, now partly stained with a speck of mashed potato.

He flashed a disgusted grimace and glared at the other kid, "Now what are you going to do about this, Warren?"

"I'm sorry," he muttered, shying away from Thomas' sharp gaze.

"I bought this fucking jacket yesterday you nitwit!" He bellowed, attracting the attention of kids who were sitting nearby as he grabbed the front of his shirt, raising a fist as if to hit him.

"I'm sorry," he blurted, making a mistake of raising his head in fright at the loud voice and meeting Thomas' angry eyes, his ginger colored hair seemed to flare brightly with rage.

"Knock it off, Walsh."

The bully turned to the boy who had walked up to him, meeting the other's gaze who was just as heated at the sight of his friend being threatened as such.

His challenger had silky, sandy blonde hair that ended in dark brown ends, indicating that he had dyed his hair before and they were just growing out. He had piercing amber eyes that were bright with intelligence, almost dark with anger as he demand the bully to lay off his friend.

His female friend approached as well, also glaring at Thomas with her bright blue eyes, her black braids flickering by her face as she joined the boy's side.

Thomas didn't let up, his grip on his victim's collar grew tighter as he sneered at the kid that had the audacity to challenge him, "What did ya want, little Lucy?"

He cackled at the nickname he'd created for the kid a long time ago, noticing his two closest friend, Jason and Mike, joining his side.

The boy's golden brown eyes narrowed, they'd looked too feminine to Thomas ever since he saw his face.

"My name is Lucian," he grumbled, gritting his teeth, "Now let Neville go."

Thomas laughed at his bravado, the boy was much smaller to him in size and had never dared to lay a hand on him in their previous conflicts.

"Or what, _Lucy_?"

The other boy bristled and growled, clenching his fists, "I'm warning you, Thomas. Fucking cut it out before I am forced to smash your face in."

The bully let out a hearty laugh at the threat, pushing poor Neville back as he stumbled to stand alongside Lucian, where his other friend support him before he could fall.

"You?" He exclaimed as he snickered with Mike and Jason, "Your little ass can't put a wrinkle in my shirt even if you wanted to!"

Lucian was straight up glaring at him by then but he didn't take the bully's bait, not looking forward to the string of consequences that is bound to occur if he did.

Half the cafeteria are watching the scene by then, some wary and some eager to see how it unfold.

Under that many watchful eyes, Lucian would rather not bring more attention onto himself and just stood there, making Thomas howl with laughter at his inaction.

"Little Lucy ain't got it in him!"

_My name isn't Lucy you stupid asshole._

He was about to take a step forward when he felt a hand holding him back by the elbow.

He turned to see Tasha peering at him with her light blue eyes with a look that clearly conveyed, 'Don't do it.'

Lucian's tense shoulders slowly relaxed as he took a silent breath in an effort to calm himself, which is pretty hard to do as Thomas laughed at his expense.

She saw that he wasn't about to lunge himself at the bully and relaxed her hold, beginning to walk back towards their table, away from the obnoxious teen.

Lucian glared at him once more for good measure, before joining his friends in their retreat.

As usual, Thomas won't shut up.

"I always knew you were a wimp!" He shouted after the boy, "Sure took after your fag brother!"

_That's it._

Lucian stopped in his tracks as laughter roared all around him, reminding him once again of the unpleasant rumors that floated about him in his first years at school.

Before anyone could stop him, Lucian had swiftly grabbed a tray that was almost empty except a few pieces of lettuce and carrot strips.

He didn't hear his friends' protest as he swung it into the bully's face with all his strength.

There was a satisfying 'clunk' as it connected with Walsh's face, he felt a 'crack' as a scream of pain erupted under the tray.

Suddenly, there was yelling all over the place as Thomas crumpled to the floor, clutching a bloody nose as his two goons got over the shock and dived for him.

Lucian spotted his stern English teacher rush into the cafeteria at the onslaught of noise just as he was tackled to the floor.

Well, he's in deep trouble now.


	3. Levi

He wore a white shirt that fit loosely onto his lean frame, covered by a light gray sweater, the collar unbuttoned. He had on a pair of dark blue jeans that almost fitted him as well, somehow accentuating his long legs and showing off his white sneakers. He had around him an aura of quiet calm yet it was somehow intriguing at the same time, though he had done nothing that drew attention to himself.

Maybe except for the haphazard spiky mop of black hair upon his head.

The tall figure easily saunters through the hallway, his hands in his pockets, earning the stares of the other kids walking past. He ignored them, having no reason to react to their stares. He held his head high, looking straight ahead as he headed for his destination.

Besides, they had only stared because they were either ogling him or was jealous. He was superior to them after all.

"Um, excuse me?" A small, feminine voice squeaked.

He turned, allowing himself to cast his black eyes upon a shorter girl.

She recoiled from his gaze, out of pure fascination and misplaced fear. He noted the slight blush on her cheek and the subconscious wringing of her soft, slender hands. She had golden hair that lightly framed her face, swaying above her neck from her nervous movement. Her eyes are a wonderful dewy blue.

Sure, she was cute.

But the male was tired of this kind of thing happening all over again.

"Yes?" He forced down his vexation at this tiresome behavior and asked, just for politeness' sake.

"M-my name is Lily," her soft voice enquired anxiously, pearly white teeth biting her lower lip for a brief moment, "What's yours?"

He vaguely felt eyes staring at him, the other children seemingly intrigued by this interaction.

Silent and judging.

He felt as if he was shoved into a cage and is now being watched by a bunch of idiotic primates, seeing if he was worthy of their approval.

As if he needed that.

"I'm Levi," he said, a strain showing on his smile.

Lilian or whatever couldn't help but grin at his reply, "Nice to meet you!"

"My pleasure as well," he muttered back as whispers slithered into his ear, grating on his brain, "Now excuse me, I have an errand to attend to."

The girl let him slowly walk past as if the conversation had never happened, dazed at her conversation with him. More eyes followed him now, more fascination radiating off them like waves of nuclear poison as he strode past.

_What's the deal with teenagers?_

Levi passed a bunch more students, finally reaching the headmaster's office. He breathed a sigh of relief as his ordeal ended, having encounter two more similar incidences like that of the girl before arriving here safely.

He was about to knock on it when the door swung open into the room, startling him slightly.

Levi caught a tall woman in a white blouse, black pencil skirt and black glasses, her dark hair pinned up to show off her pale, sharp face that glowed with youth and hostility.

Her coffee brown eyes were harsh and Levi could feel waves of anger radiating off of her and stepped back, allowing the teacher to pass.

She hardly cast a glance at him as she stalked past, heels clacking against the tiled floor as a boy who looked to be from the 7th or 8th grade followed her out, his face partly hidden by his sandy streaks of blonde hair that ended with dark brown.

He noted that the boy's dull green jacket seemed a bit torn and that he sported a bruise on his left cheek, staining his slightly tanned skin an ugly purple.

Levi deduced that he must've gotten into trouble from a fight.

As he walked past, the boy happened to raise his head, causing a pair of amber eyes, quite rare a color in itself, to meet his black gaze.

A jolt of familiarity hit him as they stared at each other, wide-eyed, shock and curiosity evident in each of their depths.

The boy's eyes lingered on him for a moment longer, before he turned away and hurried off, leaving a stunned Levi to simply stare at his retreating figure.

Before he could discern what the sensation meant, the boy had disappeared around the corner as he followed the stern looking teacher.

The feeling slowly dissipated as well and Levi was left standing alone in the hallway, the majority of the school population had either vacated to the cafeteria or to class.

He shook his head, causing his mop of crazy black hair to rustle about before returning to his earlier task, raising his fist to knock on the wooden door that had already swung shut.

"Come in," a muffled voice emerged from the other side.

Levi pulled on his sweater cuff a bit before turning the brass latch and stepping inside.

The middle-aged man watched him from the other side of the table, his greasy gray flap of hair stuck limply to his head. Thin-rimmed glasses perched precariously on his large nose as he watched the newcomer. The headmaster cleared his throat and sat straighter as he regarded the teen, "Levi Lynwood, I presume?"

Levi felt sharp eyes probing at him as he greeted, "Mr. Newfeld."

"Take a seat," he gestured to one of the plush chairs across of him.

Levi glanced at the couch and noted with a hidden distaste at the false leather that it attempted to imitate. He walked forward robotically and planted himself in the cheap furniture and faced the older man, asserting a professional air about him.

"I've received your guardian's request for your transfer to Eastwood High," he started, discreetly glancing at the document before him.

"I apologize that my godfather was unable to meet you today," he said, figuring that it's more believable to refer to said person personally, "He is rather busy at the moment regarding the paperwork to our lodging. He'll be coming tomorrow instead."

Mr. Newfeld nodded, a little taken aback at how business-like the younger male had sounded, being only sixteen-years-old.

"I had hoped that I would be able to get Mr. Lynwood's confirmation today, since you had transferred very late in the year." He twirled his thumbs idly and Levi's eyes were drawn to the rough digits, "I assume that you have no problems in your studies?"

_Pffft, of course not, old geezer._ "I assure you that there is no problem," Levi said, putting in a small smile just for the sake of it.

The headmaster nodded, flipping through the stacks on his table, "Since it is quite late, I would have to let you start school tomorrow regardless."

He picked out a few papers and extended them to the youth. He took it silently, eyes skimming over the printed words and had it memorized in under two seconds as Newfeld continued, "These are your timetable and your supplies list for the rest of this year."

"Thank you, sir." He said, folding them and sticking the papers in his jean pockets.

"Enjoy your studies here," Mr. Newfeld gave a thin smile.

Levi gave a similarly flaccid smile in return and took his leave.


	4. L's Mission

The hallway was silent and empty when he closed the door behind him, the only sounds that he could hear are from the lessons going on and the distant chatter in the cafeteria block.

Levi headed for the exit immediately, anxious to get off the school grounds and get on with his actual tasks.

He didn't make it far when his phone vibrated in his jean pocket, the shrill ringing bouncing off the ways.

He fished it out of his pocket, dangling it between his thumb and index finger before adjusting to hold it normally, pressing the 'answer' button and holding it against his ear.

"Yes?"

"Sir," his caretaker – 'godfather's' began, "I presume you are done with the visiting?"

"Indeed I have," Levi answered, continuing on his way towards the entrance.

"Shall I come to fetch you?" He asked.

"No thank you," Levi said, "I believe you deserve a rest after the moving. Besides, the distance is nothing for me, and I would like to observe the surrounding areas for a bit more."

"Very well," his guardian said, "But make sure not to take too long, the weather reports states that it is going to storm in the evening."

"Your concerns are appreciated, Wallace," Levi said with a little smile, before uttering a farewell to his caretaker and hung up.

By the time he ended the call, he had made it out into the open and saw that it is indeed going to rain.

The sky was gray and thin wisps of gray clouds started to gather, looking like the beginning of a huge storm.

The sight of it made him downcast immediately.

This always happens, Levi had always felt melancholic when it comes to rain and he don't know what were the causes of it.

All he knew was that it had begun ever since he was a young child.

He was never afraid of the storms or the loud thunder that accompanied it.

There is an appeal to simply stand in the open and have rainwater pour down upon him while he's overcome by misery from it at the very same time.

He still don't understand why he felt or does that.

And he had long given up on it.

* * *

Levi watched the thundering downpour outside the window, idly munching on gummy bears as he sat before numerous computer screens, the artificial light casting a blue glow on his face.

He was supposed to be investigating, but he found that he didn't feel like it.

Not with the storm happening outside, the rain splattering on the windows and streaming down the glass, obscuring the view outside.

Numerous websites and reports are up on his monitors, all speaking of a single being.

Kira.

However, that was not the main focus of his investigation, for the known Kira by the name of Light Yagami had passed away about three decades ago, by the hand of N, who's better known as the 3rd L.

Then, he was assassinated by one of L's enemies. The 4th L took his place after that before perishing in an accident and the title had been given to Levi as the 5th.

Other than Kira, there were also people who possessed the same power to kill with simply a name and face, executing them by the use of a Death Note.

The secrets of Kira and the Death Note had been passed down through the generation of Ls and also the people working closely with him.

Although there were threats that people might come into possession with the Death Note and subsequently become a new Kira, it hadn't been something to worry about after the 3rd Kira's time.

Rather, what had become incredibly troublesome are Kira followers.

The First Kira's fame had been widespread throughout the world, people taking up his ideology out of sick admiration or fear.

The former are the fanatics, preaching to many about the new era and the appearance of a new God (which was what Light intended, as the 3rd L's files suggested). They aimed to attract many to support their cause, which was where they created religious and extremist communities dubbed 'Kira Cults'.

Their action and behaviors are highly unethical and problematic, damaging the world around them, taking judgment into their own hands much like Kira himself had.

Even when the Kira himself had died and disappeared from the world's eyes, the Kira Cults remained at large, pockets of communities are prominent all over the world and slowly growing stronger.

The 3rd L and the 4th worked hard throughout their lives to eradicate the cults and remove Kira's ideology from the world as best as they could.

However, such a widespread problem would take many years to eliminate.

The cults have decreased significantly in numbers but some still remained at large till this very day.

One such group is currently resided in the United States, where Levi had made the point to move over from England and reside here.

He believed that the cult is residing in the area around the school that he had enrolled in, and thought it would be better if he is able to observe the town as a resident.

A very strange thing about this particular group is that they are extremely elusive. Levi had been unsuccessful at finding them besides the couple followers who didn't even have an idea of the official location of the cult.

A whole group of Kira followers that are difficult to catch is very worrying indeed, as it points to the possibility of a highly intelligent and crafty leader that is able to organize the group as such and no one would know about the extent of their activities until it is too late.

Levi suspect that the cult might very well be trying to bring Kira back, as that was the aim of several Kira cults that was captured and reported in the files of the previous Ls.

Although he wasn't sure how they were going to go about that, as bringing Kira back would require the possession of a Death Note, which is a tool from another realm.

Right now, uncovering their location and rounding them all up are his top priorities.

There was a creak as the door to his office opened.

Levi tilted his head backwards as an older man stepped in. He was the "guardian" that Levi had mentioned, sporting streaks of gray in his otherwise dark hair, neatly combed back on his head. He had a nicely trimmed black moustache that started to gray as well. The man always wore formal three piece suits, never appearing unprofessional in front of Levi or anyone else he could think of. His glasses did nothing to hide the smile in his gray eyes as they settled on Levi.

Levi smiled back, "Hello, Wallace."

"Good evening, Levi," he greeted, "It is quite late so I would like to ask what you would like for dinner tonight, sir?"

Levi turned back to his screens showing case files and evidences linking to Kira and the Cult, blinking at them before saying, "Baked salmon and roasted mushrooms sounds good today."

Wallace smiled and bowed, before taking his leave to prepare the dishes.

Levi watched the door close and turned back to stare solemnly out the window, watching the rain drops slam on the glass, the Kira Cult momentarily forgotten.

His thoughts flickered back to the boy he had seen earlier in the day, his mind unable to get rid of the sight of those golden brown eyes.

Levi can't help but feel that he might've seen him before, which might warrant the feeling of familiarity.

But he cannot remember where he had seen the boy ever before.

Curious, Levi set about hacking into the school system and found his information in no time.

Lucian Yanagi…

Levi stared at Lucian's picture peering back at him with his haunting amber eyes, it was taken a year ago, back when his hair was still completely dark brown.

Levi was very sure he had never seen the thirteen-year-old ago in his entire life, yet had the strong feeling that he must've known him from somewhere.

The longer he stared at the portrait, the more aware he was of a certain feeling.

A dark fire ignited in his chest, gradually spreading throughout his being.

Levi was caught within the fog of sensation and was mildly puzzled.

For some reason that he can't fathom, Levi hates this guy.

_Why?_

_Why do I hate you so much?_

Levi was soon overwhelmed by the dark feeling and immediately turned his monitor off, Lucian's innocent eyes disappeared from his sight.

And then the hatred was gone.

Levi blinked to himself, staring at the black screen.

Huh, strange.

Before he could think more of it, there was a notification on his monitor, where it showed the President attempting to contact him.

Levi put on his headset and ensured his voice altering software is on, before picking up the call.


	5. Killer Notebooks

Lucian was only halfway to his house when there was sudden thunder.

He looked up, seeing the dark clouds gathering closer and denser than when he saw when he was on the bus.

Then the first drops began to fall down upon him.

"Shit," he uttered under his breath as he walked even faster down the empty path, leaves billowing about his feet as the wind picked up.

Another thunder sounded and rain poured down on him, like a dam had suddenly broke, the onslaught growing thicker by the second.

The boy cursed and held his bag over his head, breaking into a run, his shoes kicking up water as puddles formed rapidly.

Lucian was more than drenched when he ducked under the safety of his porch, wet fingers digging for the keys as he panted, fat drops of water falling from his hair and clothes and pooling on the floor.

He glanced at the windows partly obscured by pale yellow curtains, relieved to see that it was dark inside.

She might not be home today, or still asleep.

Lucian fumbled with the slippery keys and finally got the door open.

He stepped into the dark house, turning to lock the door when the lights suddenly flickered on.

 _Oh no_.

He turned stiffly, seeing a tall, woman with blonde hair the shade of platinum standing by the hallway in a nightgown, her hand resting on the light switch.

Her steely blue eyes were fixed on him, her long hair curled in odd places, looking as though she has just woken up.

She retracted her pale, long-fingered hand and uttered, "Luke."

"Andrina," he muttered, amber eyes watching her warily.

Andrina fixed her eyes on the puddle that her son is creating and they narrowed slowly in disapproval.

"Your principal called today," she said coldly, "He told me you got into a fight."

"Yeah."

She silently stared at him for a moment, before saying, "I don't care what you do with your life, just don't cause trouble for me. That's all I ask."

Lucian lowered his gaze, "I'm sorry."

Andrina glared at him for a long moment, "You're just as ill-mannered as your father."

He silently clenched his fists, not meeting her eyes for a moment as he kept his anger reined back.

"I suppose it's my blessing that Michael is nothing like you," she said, before making her way back into her room, "Hurry up and clean up that mess."

The door clicked shut and Lucian was left alone in the living room, trembling as his nails dug painfully into his palms.

The teen then stormed down the hallway past her door and into his room that he shared with Michael. Lucian dropped his bag that landed on the floor with a thud, shutting his door and glaring at it in silence for two long seconds.

He let out a frustrated noise and promptly punched the wall, breathing hard as he fought to keep his rage under control and silently counted to ten.

_It's not his fault that he is not like his brother._

Lucian placed his other hand on the wall and clutched at it.

_It's not his fault that his mother hates his dad, whoever he was._

"It's not my fault that I was born," he muttered to the wall, resting his forehead on it.

Hot tears began welling up in his eyes.

"Shit…"

Lucian forcibly wiped them away with the back of his hand, angry and embarrassed that he'd cried over something so worthless.

Since his mother had never loved him, there's no reason to pine after it, no matter how much he'd wanted.

She'd hated him with all her heart, that was it.

He sighed, closing his eyes as the tears finally ceased.

Lucian shook his head and pushed off the wall, pulling off his disgustingly wet clothes that clung to his skin as he grabbed his towel and headed for the bathroom.

* * *

The young boy sat at his desk, his eyes drawn to the storm churning beyond the glass.

It had been an hour before when he'd reached home and he had since cleaned up, gotten a fresh change of clothes and is now halfway through his homework.

It'll be another half hour until his older brother gets home and he found that he can't concentrate as his mind ran over what had happened earlier in the day.

He winced, bruise stinging as he thought back to the fight in the cafeteria.

_Damn Thomas and his bullies._

Lucian clearly wasn't in a good mood as he glared out at the rain.

First that idiot had the audacity to pick on one of his only friends, then he got into trouble for smashing the tray in his face.

Getting into trouble with Ms. Smith was not worth the satisfaction he got from breaking the bully's nose.

His mother who had no affection for him was colder to him, most probably because the incident had disturbed her from her slumber. Not to mention that Walsh would be out for revenge now that Lucian had caused him pain and humiliation in front of half the school population.

He let out an irritated sigh, his mind conjuring up more images of the day.

The more he thought about it, the more angered he became, especially at Thomas.

It was _all_ his fault.

A guy like that shouldn't be allowed to live.

Lucian couldn't hold it anymore.

He reached for his desk drawer and opened it forcefully, setting his eyes upon a single black notebook inside it.

He lifted it out of the dark drawer, running his hand over the smooth, blank surface.

Lucian's eyes were bright as he turned the cover over onto a blank page, reaching for a black mechanical pencil.

He stared at the empty page as he focused on the rage that grew and grew.

He pressed the lead onto the page, almost hard enough to tear the paper as he scratched a name onto the book.

_Thomas Orville Walsh._

Lucian stared and stared at the name with his intense gaze, breaking into a sudden chuckle at his handiwork.

_He's dead now!_

He kept staring, then broke into laughter.

_Ha, as if!_

Lucian sighed, chuckling softly at his own childishness.

Killing someone by writing their name, that'll never happen.

He closed the notebook and replaced it in his drawer, closing it.

It was merely a game he had invented, to vent his anger against whoever he happens to hate at the moment, imagining that they died from it without him ever having to lift a hand.

Killer notebooks are a thing of fantasy, a harmless child's play.

It would be terrifying if it existed, though.

Lucian turned back to his assignment, most of his anger forgotten.

He'd just penned down a couple lines of equation when lightning flashed outside his window.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught the outline of the light post that shone a feeble, yellow light onto the street.

And the dark figure of something strange.

He thought he saw the outline of a massive crouching creature, with spiky edges and a long arm that hung over a side of the lamp, staring straight at him.

_Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk._

Lucian gasped and looked up, straight at where the figure is supposed to be.

There was nothing.

Lucian was staring at an empty space above the lamp, eyes wide and wondering if he had imagined the split second of seeing it.

He peered out a few moments more, fearing that it might not have been merely his imagination and saw nothing still.

Maybe he should stop pretending to kill people with his notebook.

He let out an uneasy chuckle and turned back to his homework.

So many strange things happening today.

Lucian was suddenly reminded of a weird looking guy he saw earlier the day.

Well, he didn't actually look that weird, other than his out-of-control hairstyle.

He could still remember the black, bottomless eyes he had, the faint eye bags under them.

How familiar they looked…

Lucian would've remembered if he had seen him from somewhere before. But there was no recollection of that whatsoever.

He was sure he had never seen him anywhere before in school.

_Maybe he's transferring? Who the heck transfers so late in the year anyway?_

He seems like an interesting person, even though Lucian had only seen him for a short moment.

Lucian had an inkling that the guy might have the same feeling as well, judging from his expression.

Or maybe he's thinking too much.

He wasn't left pondering for long when the door was flung open.

Lucian barely turned around when he was slammed into and smouldered in a tight hug.

"Luke!" Michael backed up and examined him, "Are you alright? Shit, I heard you got into a fight!"

"I'm fine," he mumbled, struggling to get out of his brother's grasp, "Let me go!"

"Oh, sorry," He did as he was told and looked him over from head to toe, allowing Lucian an eyeful of his brown eyes and shoulder length black hair that fluttered about as he fretted, "Are you alright? Were you hurt badly? Who the hell hit you?"

He gasped, "A bruise!"

"I'm fine!" Lucian snapped, "Stop rambling!"

"Ah, sorry," his brother smiled sheepishly, "I'm just worried."

Lucian rolled his eyes, "I'm fine, geez."

"Well, that's good," Michael said, "Did you put medicine?"

"No."

"What? Luke, you have to or it'll hurt longer!" Michael exclaimed, "Hold on, I'll get the ointment."

He then proceeded to rush out the room before Lucian could react.

The boy frowned, then sighed as he broke into a thin smile.

That can't be helped, his older brother had always been overprotective since he was young.

Despite the annoying side of it, he was grateful for the affection that Michael gave, even if they didn't share the same father.

It was only because of him that he was able to stay sane in this house.

Lucian sat back down on his chair as he waited for his brother to return, resting his head on his hand as he idly turned to watch the downpour outside.

He partly watched to see if the shadow returned and thought about the older boy he had seen earlier in the afternoon.

Then he stopped pondering too much over it.

He supposed he can leave it for another day.

Since the boy is in high school, what are the chances they will meet anyway?


	6. First Meeting

Levi sat in the very back of his Mathematics class, having paid no attention to the lesson and waiting anxiously to get the hell out of there.

The detective found absolutely no need for him to listen to the lecture, for he had already went through all of the high school standard Math education at the age of eight and gotten his Ph.D. three years later, among a couple other courses.

Besides, the middle-aged teacher, Mr. Morrell was doing an awfully terrible job, hardly compelling Levi to pay attention out of respect.

The teen let out a sigh and slumped over on the table, black eyes staring out the window at the cloudless sky above.

Being in a high school sucks.

Not only are the very long and very basic classes awfully dull, Levi was perpetually surrounded by idiots.

Sure, there are some kids with a decent level of intellect that didn't make it hell for him to hold a conversation with them, it's mostly the idiots that flung themselves at him.

Horny, bad-tempered, ill-mannered morons.

He had to remind himself over and over again that he'd done this for the sake of the mission.

And also because of his curiosity, for he had never been in a public school before.

It was the biggest mistake he'd ever made.

"Mr. Lynwood?"

Levi tilted his head back to the front, seeing the teacher glaring at him over his metal framed glasses, mouth pressed into a thin line, accompanied by thirty other pair of eyes set upon him.

_What?_

"Please come up and solve this equation for us, won't you?"

Levi peered briefly at the blackboard, bit back a sigh and walked over to the front.

He chalked down the solution on it immediately like he'd done it all his life, barely sparing a glance at Mr. Morrell's astonished face as he walked back to his seat five seconds later and slumped back down unceremoniously.

The class stared at him for a few moments, some with admiration, some cast a bitter gaze on him while others were just confused, before the teacher cleared his throat and got back to the lesson.

Levi once again let his thoughts drift while he stared out the window.

School is really terrible as they say, but it's a good way for him to integrate into the community and observe what is really happening within it.

It's the best way to get a lead, for now.

He'll just have to tolerate this.

The bell rang and Levi snatched up his shoulder bag, bolting before anyone had a chance to approach him.

* * *

Levi snuck his way to the laboratory block typically used by the middle schoolers, glad to find it completely vacated at lunchtime.

He'd taken to spending his free time at the building as it is quiet most of the times, with no horny or angry teenagers to find and annoy him.

The only downside to this is that he won't be able to have lunch.

It's a good thing that he never ate much, only having at least a proper meal a day and living on various candy for the other part.

Wallace had always found it worrying that he consumes more sugar than he should, always making a point to nag at him and getting him to eat actual food for all three meals a day.

Levi was forced to go for checkups every six months and all the results so far showed that he was healthy.

He was never concerned about it, as it is completely fine on the part of his overindulgence, though he knew where Wallace was coming from so he didn't really argue.

Levi got to the third floor and went to lean over at the railings, setting his eyes upon the empty courtyard on the back of the building.

Faraway voices reached his ears as if from another world, as he brooded over the Kira Cult issue.

Still no leads…

He sighed and reached into his jean pocket for the last packet of gummies, tearing it open and popping a bear into his mouth as he stared blankly at the far wall.

Levi wondered how the hell would he be able to endure all the nonsense this school has to offer if this case remains stagnant.

A flash of gold passed his mind's eye and Levi found himself thinking about the boy.

A flare of distaste ignited within him and he huffed.

_No._

Levi dismissed the thought of meeting him and munched aggressively on his gummy bears.

Why would he want to meet someone he didn't like?

That was when a shout disrupted the peace from below.

Levi looked down, finding a group of middle school kids in the courtyard, the boy he was just thinking about among them.

_What are they doing?_

As he looked on, it was clear that the three clearly larger boys are looking for trouble as they surrounded him.

The boy called Lucian glared back at him, stepping away warily.

Levi watched as the largest kid with ginger hair snapped at him about something, his voice sounding strange even from this distance with the bandage on his face.

This kid seemed to be the type to get into fights often, Levi noted, seeing how Lucian's eyes flashed a molten gold as he glared fearlessly at the larger males.

_I hate him._

Levi tossed an orange flavored gummy into his mouth and chewed, watching nonchalantly.

_But I don't know why._

He watched as the ginger haired male began pushing the kid.

Levi dropped the empty wrapper onto the floor with a huff as he turned for the stairs.

* * *

Lucian let out a grunt as he was suddenly shoved against the wall, Thomas sneering at him as his two friends laughed.

He glared back at them, panting as his escape routes are closed off.

Shit, this is bad.

"Where d'ya think you're running to, little Lu'dy?"

"I don't think that's any of your business, Walsh," Lucian snarled, tensing as he prepared to fight back, briefly eyeing the two other boys on either side of him.

Thomas growled in response, pulling back a fist to land a heavy punch on the younger boy's face.

His green eyes widened when Lucian dodged the blow and stepped right in front of him in one fluid motion, bringing up his elbow that connected with the bottom of his chin and causing his head to snap back.

Lucian heard the audible clack of his teeth and the abrupt noise of his tongue hitting the back of his throat.

Mike and Jason gasped in horror and Lucian quickly turned and sprinted away as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Fucking get him!" Thomas roared from his fallen position, spurring his two lackeys into action.

In his haste to escape, Lucian stumbled as he stepped onto a rock, cursing as he almost fall over onto his face.

That allowed Mike to catch up with him and grab onto the back of his jacket, yanking him with all he had.

Lucian yelped as he fell over backwards, hitting his head against the hard ground.

He groaned as he closed his eyes, clutching onto his head as he rolled and curled up on his side.

He vaguely heard panting as Mike muttered, "Little shit is fast."

A set of footsteps joined him and in the pained haze Lucian managed to crack open an eye, only to see the Thomas' large form looming over him, emerald eyes glittering murderously.

* * *

Levi made it to the ground floor when the ginger-haired bully picked him up by the collar, the younger boy looking slightly dazed.

So they managed to catch him.

"I'm going to make you regret that so bad," the kid said.

Levi caught a flash of violent anger in the other's eyes as Lucian jerked his head forward and smashed it into the large kid's bandaged nose.

He howled in pain, his fingers loosening and Lucian hit the ground with a painful thud.

The bully rose to his feet, fists clenched in rage and kicked the younger boy hard in the gut.

Lucian winced but otherwise didn't let out a sound, curling up into a protective ball as the bully kept attacking him.

Levi watched nonchalantly at the display of violence before him and decided it was not in his business to interfere in any sort of middle school kids drama.

They'll likely quit once they are done with him.

He turned and began to walk away before any of them noticed him when a pained cry reached his ears.

Levi paused as an odd feeling rooted him to the spot.

He blinked, suddenly feeling immense concern filling his heart, replacing the strange antipathy he had for the boy.

_What…_

A distressed whine hit him and Levi snapped his head back in its direction.

_I can't leave him alone._

Levi began to walk towards them, a single determination blazing in his eyes.

* * *

Thomas was having the time of his life, teaching a lesson to the insolent kid that dared to cross him.

He suddenly noticed Mike and Jason staring behind him and backing away.

Thomas turned, seeing a tall dude with crazy hair staring down at him with his unnerving black eyes, pale hands stuffed into his jean pockets.

"Hello," he said stiffly, and Thomas could see the barely contained rage deep within his dark eyes.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Thomas backed up, leaving Lucian who was curled up beneath him and groaning softly.

"How rude," the older male mocked, glaring at him, "Didn't your parents teach you proper manners?"

Thomas launched a fist at the guy and was more than surprised when he caught it easily.

The guy twisted him out of balance and Thomas cried out in pain, falling onto his bum when he was shoved back.

The bully backed up away from the guy that was clearly stronger than him, looking around to find that his two friends had wisely fled the scene.

He scrambled to his feet, glared at the newcomer and said, "This is not over."

He then scurried off.

* * *

Levi glared at the retreating figure, every ounce of his rage directed at him.

He glanced down and saw that Lucian is lying limply on his side, side rising and falling shallowly as he sucked in each breath.

Levi worried that he might've passed out, squatting down and touching his shoulder to turn him over.

He felt the boy jerk and his amber eyes flew open, darting about before it settled on him.

Levi caught his breath when those eyes met his own, a twinge of familiarity tugging at his gut.

_What the hell is it?_

He pushed that away when the boy gasped in pain as he shifted.

"Are you alright?"

His deep tone washed over Lucian's form and he calmed slightly.

"I think so," he uttered absently, trying again to get up.

Levi helped him up and Lucian managed to get to his feet, staggering a bit at first.

"Thanks," he said, checking himself over for injuries.

Despite the harsh treatment, the only thing he'll get away from this are some nasty bruising.

He'll probably have to go get his head checked, though.

Lucian regarded the older male curiosity, who'd only been staring at him the whole time.

"What's your name?"

The raven-haired teen looked slightly startled, before muttering, "Levi."

"Thanks, Levi," he smiled, "My name is Lucian."

Levi was still for a moment, before a small smile tugged at his lips.

A jolt passed through Lucian at the expression, leaving him confused as he stared at the other.

_Who is he?_

"Although your injuries don't seem severe," Levi uttered, "Perhaps you would like to visit the infirmary?"

Lucian blinked and hurriedly said, "Yeah, sure."

"I shall go along, if you don't mind."

"Okay," he said, before following Levi as he made his way towards the main school buildings.

_Why do I feel like I've met him before?_


	7. A Mere Ploy

Levi slouched down the hallway with the younger boy in tow, walking considerably slower as his sides ached with every step.

The dark-haired teen seemed to notice this and slowed down a bit, glancing at Lucian sidelong.

"I'm fine," he said in a huff.

Levi nodded, saying nothing in response and merely watching out in case he falls or something.

Lucian appreciated the gesture for his need to protect his pride.

He knew it was inane, but that aspect had formed an essential part of him as long as he had known.

The boy didn't stop to consider the fact that the other seemed to be naturally accepting of it and allowed him to indulge in the useless pride, instead of fussing about him like he others would, like his friends or his brother.

It was simply a known fact, somehow.

Maybe it was because he knew that Levi is already unique just from the looks of him.

Lucian somehow made it to the infirmary without a sound of complain and allowed Levi to open the door for him, as the throbbing in his side is already beginning to kill him.

He must've looked pretty terrible as the school nurse, the slightly plump Mrs. Keener, immediately stood at the sight of him and casting him a worried gaze.

"He got into a fight," Levi said before she could ask and Lucian shot him a look, "I suspect injuries to both his head and chest so I suggest you begin checking on that immediately."

Mrs. Keener looked slightly taken aback at the orders that are suddenly directed at her, her left eye twitching slightly before she got to work, directing Lucian to go sit on the examination bed.

Five minutes later, he was sitting on the bed, shirtless and holding a cold compress to his chest as Mrs. Keener set about checking on his head injury.

While the new guy just stood there and stared.

The thirteen-year-old felt a bit unnerved, the other boy reminding him of a shadow as he was dressed in a dark sweater and black jeans, peering at them in such a way that caused shivers to run down his spine.

That was weird because it was definitely _not_ from the cold.

The nurse's fingers brushed over the slight bump on the back of his head and he winced, hissing in pain.

"Looks like there aren't any lacerations…" She muttered to herself, before asking, "Do you feel dizzy?"

"No," he mumbled, trying not to stare back at the other boy.

"Feel like throwing up?"

"No."

"Have a headache?"

"Other than where I hit, no," his eyes somehow strayed back to the shadow-like figure, it was as if those pair of eyes were black holes, attracting everything around it and swallowing them up.

Levi flashed a little smirk and he felt his cheeks go red, out of their own accord.

He looked away, finding his own behavior shockingly appalling.

_Damn it, get a grip!_

"I'm going to check your eyes for a bit," Mrs. Keener said, before walking to her desk.

"Ok," he said dumbly, refraining from nodding because that had caused his head to throb a bit.

Levi is now looking about, observing the room and seemed to be easily committing it to memory.

He took the chance to study the other, though he was sure Levi was somehow looking back at him without actually looking at him.

_Weird._

Lucian barely noticed as the nurse instructed him to tilt his head up, his eyes attracted to the older student in the room.

He shut his eyes in surprise when a sudden flash of light beamed into them and he finally remembered what he was doing.

Lucian forced his eyes to stay open as the nurse directed the light into them each in turn.

"Good, pupillary response is normal," she noted approvingly as she finally switched the flashlight off, "Pupil sizes are also normal, so there shouldn't be any complications."

"Even if you say that, his condition needs to be monitored, it can deteriorate and show signs of a concussion," Levi added absently, now looking straight at them.

"Yes," Mrs. Keener said, almost curtly as she added, "As for the bruised ribs, make sure to ice the area a couple times a day for twenty minutes, they should heal in about four weeks."

"Three, at the minimum," Levi said, appearing to hardly pay any attention.

The nurse's eye twitch was very distinct, right there.

"Also, you forget that he should be advised to see a qualified medical practitioner if complications occur, especially dizziness and vomiting if he were to develop a serious head trauma."

Slightly annoyed that he was mentioned as if he were not in the room, Lucian also found himself amused by the other boy's know-it-all attitude towards the school nurse.

Mrs. Keener very obviously tried to ignore him, turning back to the other teen, "I'll give you some pain meds and a permission slip for you to go home so that you can rest. Refrain from any form of physical activities for the next week, strenuous activities for the next few weeks and you'll be good to go."

"Okay."

In the meantime, Levi had trudged over to the bed while the nurse trotted back to her desk and began to fill up a form.

"The nurse does not like me," Levi muttered, as if clueless to the source of the nurse's annoyance.

"Obviously," Lucian muttered impassively, taking it as a cue to remove the compress and put his shirt back on.

"Do you need help?" Levi asked, observing that the younger boy had a little difficulty with dressing himself.

"No," he snapped, then realized that it was probably rude to answer in such a manner. "Sorry."

"It's quite alright," he said, smiling slightly, "I did observe that you would prefer to aid yourself in difficult circumstances."

Lucian had no idea how to respond to that but he didn't need to as Mrs. Keener returned with a slip and a pill bottle.

"This is for the bruise," she said, passing the items to him, "Make sure to take these after meals, drink plenty of fluids and rest. About once or twice per day should suffice, here is your slip; do you need to call someone to fetch you?"

"No," he answered, giving her a tiny smile as he shook his head slightly.

"Okay then, get well soon."

"Thank you."

Levi turned to face the nurse with an imploring look, "Could I get a permission slip too?"

Lucian could see that she was trying not to roll her eyes as she turned to him, "No."

"I am wary of Lucian's ability to make it back on his own, therefore I shall volunteer to take him home and thus I need a permission slip to leave the premises."

The younger boy stared at him incredulously while Mrs. Keener was practically glaring at him.

"I am not permitted to give a slip to _healthy_ students who _don't_ have a need to leave the school."

"You're allowing an injured student to go home on his own?" Levi questioned and Lucian had to wonder whether the guy is actually concerned about him or just looking for an excuse to leave.

Most probably the latter.

That started a bout of civilized arguing between the new kid and the school nurse, as civilized as an argument could be.

Lucian debated whether to stay and watch or leave them be, as they shot their reasoning back and forth.

Granted, that was one of the most interesting things to witness, if not for the throbbing in his head that's getting worse from it.

His mulling was cut short as Mrs. Keener huffed, "Fine, I'll write you one, just get out of my office and don't show your face to me unless you need to, or I will report this matter to the headmaster."

Levi simply smiled, "Thank you, and do you not think that reporting it would just expose the fact that you let a student leave the school illegally for menial reasons?"

Mrs. Keener stopped scribbling in the slip and stared at him.

"Alright, I won't say anything," Levi relented, as Lucian tried not to laugh at his sudden predicament.

That was how he found himself leaving the school, followed by the older boy that he just met less than an hour ago.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Lucian asked as he stared at the boy with the unkempt hair as he slouched into the bus after him, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"Accompanying you home as I have promised," Levi said, as he planted himself on the seat next to the blonde.

"I thought that was just a ploy to get out of school," he accused mildly, leaning back in his seat, then decided against it when the headrest rubbed against his injury.

"It was," Levi said seriously, "But I'd rather not have complications occur if I were to simply left you alone."

Lucian stared at him, "You're weird."

Levi set his black eyes upon Lucian and seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, "It seems to be that way, though I did not have anyone who had said it to my face before."

"I'm a straightforward kind of guy."

"You could be considered rude, then," Levi said as he dug in his pockets, then stopped when he realized that they were empty.

"You're not any better yourself," the younger boy said, "Especially what you did to Mrs. Keener back there - are you always like that?"

"Yes and no," the black haired teen answered, staring out the window, "I do not always behave like that."

"So that was all an act?"

"Yes," A look came over his face, "In fact, I was told that I was much worse, that man was really displeased."

Lucian began to laugh as he imagined what the situation must be like, as what Levi had did in the infirmary had been pretty terrible already especially due to the fact the nurse hadn't known him at all.

His laughter was cut short when pain flared in his sides and he bit back a groan, managing a weak 'ouch' as he clutched at himself.

Levi peered over at him with what seemed to be genuine concern as he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I gotta remember I can't really laugh though," he complained, "That stung like a bitch."

"I would imagine it to be so," Levi stated, turning to stare back out the window as he let out a careful breath, the pain beginning to subside.

* * *

"How long are you going to follow me for?" Lucian said, turning to glare at his new 'stalker'.

Two hours ago he wouldn't have expected to meet the new guy that he apparently found interest in, or to be shadowed by him at all.

"Until you reach your doorstep safely, of course," Levi said.

Lucian rolled his eyes in annoyance, but didn't retaliate because that would aggravate his injuries even more than he'd already did on the journey home.

Guy you met an hour and forty minutes ago follows you home.

_Nope, not weird at all._

He was slightly unnerved that he hadn't found it uncomfortable enough to force him to leave him alone.

At least not as much as usual.

Must be the pain.

_Yep, that must be it._

Lucian ignored the fact that he needed to go through an internal argument about this as he spotted his house coming into view.

"That's my house over there," Lucian pointed out, turning to face the other boy, "You can leave now, seriously."

To his utter annoyance, Levi just said, "I think you did not hear it clear enough, I will see you to your doorstep."

"I think I am beginning to understand what you said about your behavior being much worse," he said blandly.

Levi raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'Well, go on.'

Lucian rolled his eyes in response, sighing as he turned and winced at the brief stab of pain at the movement, before he continued walking home, trying not to be spooked by how accepting he is with this.

Definitely not weird at all.


	8. A Rescue?

Light stuck his key into the lock, turning to glare at Levi who is apparently still here.

"Look, I'm already on my doorstep," he glared, "So could you please  _leave_?"

Levi stared at him with his black eyes, looking like he was going to stay.

Lucian feared for a moment that the guy was going to follow him into his house when he shrugged, "Very well, I'd kept my word."

"Thank you," he grumbled, barely containing a silent sigh of relief.

He turned back to his door as the other boy began to leave.

Levi was barely ten steps away from the porch when the door was suddenly flung open, revealing a tall man with short black hair. He looked young, barely in his twenties, skin tanned bronze and body firm with muscles. He was bare chested save for a towel around his waist. There was a cigarette between his lips, sending a thin stream of smoke rising into the air.

Lucian gaped at him.

He took the cigarette out of his mouth, blowing smoke in his direction as he glared, "Who're you?"

The boy stopped staring at him in shock and glowered,  _"Who're you?"_

"Rude," the man spat out, putting out the cigarette on the doorframe.

Lucian tried not to wince at the mess he'll have to clean up later when the man threw it on the floor.

"You're Andrina's kid?"

"Yeah," Lucian answered, ignoring the throbbing in his side, "You're one of her fuckboys?"

The man's glare turned lethal, his voice laced with the beginnings of a growl, "Watch your tongue,  _kid_."

While they were staring each other down, Levi had casually snuck back and peered through the open doorway.

It looked like a tornado had swept in through the living room.

Levi stared as he spotted beer cans littered about the floor, one of the cans oozing the drink out of it. There were some clothing strewn over the floor and the couch, and there was glass from what he assumed was from a bottle of wine.

"Mateus?" A silky female voice called out from within the house, "Who are you talking to?"

Levi's view was obscured when a figure occupied the doorway.

The woman was tall, wearing a silk bathrobe that showed off cleavage. She looked like she was fresh out of the bath. She had a towel draped around her shoulders, framing her pale blonde hair that reflected the sunlight.

Her features vaguely resembled that of Lucian's and Levi assumed that she is his mother.

He was further intrigued when her glass blue eyes turned to frost the moment she set them on her son.

"You're back early," she said, her voice colder than it was a second ago.

"I had permission," Lucian said coldly.

"Why is that?" Andrina looked very displeased, while the man had tenderly wrapped an arm around her waist and placed a kiss on her jaw.

Levi stared at the absurd behavior of the man and saw that the boy was beginning to shake, fury pouring off him in waves.

"I was hurt," he replied, sounding calmer than he seemed.

"Another fight?" She all but spat the words out as she glared at her son, "You never learn."

Lucian didn't reply and Levi had to wonder if this happened often, whether his mother had ever listened to him.

A wave of protectiveness surged through him as the boy remained sullenly silent.

"Make yourself useful while you're here," she said, stepping back and gesturing at the mess in the room, "Clean this all up."

For some reason, Levi was expecting the kid to be defiant; he didn't seem like a person who would listen to demands, especially unreasonable ones.

But that wasn't what happened, as the blonde's shoulders slumped slightly, almost unnoticeable unless one watched very closely, which Levi is doing right now.

He was surprised and before he knew it, he had already walked towards them with a sharply uttered, "Wait."

Lucian turned to him, startled, while his mother glared at him.

"Who is this?"

"A friend," he said before the blonde could respond, "I would like to inform you that Lucian had not been injured mildly and your treatment towards him could impede his recovery."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I don't see how this is any of your business."

"It is my business as his  _friend_ ," Levi stated, placing emphasis on the word and returning her glare with a black stare, "How you're treating your son is unacceptable and you are liable for the offense of child abuse and neglect."

"Dude, shut up!" Lucian was glaring at him now.

Levi turned to him and was floored when he saw that Lucian was fighting back tears.

The desire to punish his parent diminished. Of course the boy wouldn't want this for a multitude of reasons.

He'd think his friends did not know about this either.

"Come over," Levi blurted, again before he could think to stop himself.

"What?"

"Come over," Levi said, making up his mind, "It is clear that your home environment is not suitable for your recovery."

"Why the hell would I go with you?" He demanded, "I barely even know you!"

"While that's true," Levi muttered, glancing pointedly at Andrina, "I didn't think you would want to be subjected to this treatment, would you?"

Lucian went silent when he saw the look in his eyes.

As black and glassy as they are, those eyes were deep and dark and quite certainly broiling with emotions.

No one had fought like this for him before, maybe except for Tasha and Neville, that brought on a strange feeling, coupled with irritation because he doesn't need anyone to help him!

Still, those strange eyes appealed to him and his pride slowly diminished.

Yes, he shouldn't be treated like that.

But still…

"I'll be waiting down the street," he added, sensing his hesitation, "If you change your mind."

The boy thought he had never saw that discreetly earnest look on his face before, certainly because he never had to appeal to anyone.

As Lucian blinked away the confusion that swept over him at his thoughts, the dark-haired teen had made his way back in the direction of the bus stop.

At the doorway, his mother huffed, walking back into the house as she muttered about what a waste of time that was.

The man, Mateus or whatever, seemed amused by the unplanned drama.

"Weird kid," he commented, before walking away to join Andrina, stepping around the broken glass on the floor.

Lucian stared at it and was reminded that he had to clean that up if he stays, the thoughts of that caused his side to ache even more.

He found himself really reluctant to stay.

A part of him wanted to follow Levi, even though he is downright bizarre and seemed like someone he should stay the hell away from, there is just something about him that made Lucian drawn to him.

He can't explain it and blamed it on the pain affecting his thought process.

Especially when it keeps telling him to find Levi.

Something is clearly wrong with that.

On the other hand, his mother doesn't give a shit if he's suffering, much less about where he is at all times.

Lucian stared down the street where Levi had disappeared, debating whether he should be following him.

He found himself pulling out his cell to send his brother a message.

To hell with it.

* * *

Lucian found himself sitting in the back of a black Rolls Royce with gray tinted windows, stunned into silence.

He didn't know that the weird guy was loaded.

Levi was seated next to him, fiddling with his sleeve as he stared straight ahead, his clothing so dark that it seemed to blend into the black leather seats.

"It'll take about twenty minutes to reach my apartment," he said, "Do you need anything before we get there?"

"Your parents are okay with this?" Lucian asked, trying not to send the other a stupid, open-mouthed stare at his apparent wealth.

"I don't have parents," he said nonchalantly, gesturing to the driver, "It's just me and Wallace."

The middle-aged man met his eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled.

"Oh… uh-"

"There is no need to express your condolences," Levi interrupted, turning to face him, "I was never troubled by their absence."

"Okay…"

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Lucian muttered, trying to keep his expression blank against the wince that threatened to break out.

Levi studied him and nodded silently.

The boy had a feeling that he knew he was lying and wasn't really pleased when he felt the need to oblige him.

Still, it'll be much worse if he decided to needless probe at his dishonesty, so that made it the lesser of the two evils for him anyway.

"You can rest up if you like," he said instead, "I should be able to provide everything you need for tonight."

Lucian nodded mutely, turning to stare out the window as the buildings rolled past.

"Hey," he said suddenly.

Levi turned to look at him.

"Thanks for doing this, I guess," Lucian said awkwardly.

The other boy smiled, "No problem, anything for a friend."

Friend? Well… that's fine by him.

As Lucian watched a tennis court past by, words came unbidden to him.

_'You're my first friend.'_

"First friend…?" He blurted unwittingly, realizing at the last moment that he had said that out loud.

"Pardon?" Levi turned to him, puzzled.

"It's nothing," Lucian said as calmly as he could, even with the panic that ran through him at that.

Levi's dark eyes assessed him for a moment, before letting it go and turning away from him, while Lucian's mind is still reeling from it.

_What the hell was that?_

They sat in silence for the next couple of minutes before Levi spoke.

"You are my first friend, Lucian," he said.

Lucian didn't expect him to speak and spun to face him, an incredulous look etched on his face.

"I'm not joking."

"You must be the weirdest guy I've ever known."

"Well, I can't argue with that…"

* * *

Lucian once again found himself gaping like an idiot when he reached Levi's house.

The Rolls Royce was one thing, the penthouse apartment, now that was something to really marvel about.

His home is located in the middle of the city, in one of the most expensive buildings in the penthouse, fitted with two floors and wall-length windows that are partially covered with dark curtains.

Dark wood tiles and fur carpeting made up the entire floor that led to the windows where bright sunlight filtered through and illuminated the living space, showing the wide expanse of the city below.

To the right is a peach wall with a 70 inch plasma TV, flanked by two sleek, black speakers outlined by a soft glow. Below the television are a line of short, black cabinets that stretches up into shelves to the right of the television, holding two items that consisted of white ceramic vase and a cactus.

In front of that is a white fur rug framed by an L-shaped couch that looked incredibly cozy to the injured boy right now.

Next to those is the black glass stairs that led to the next floor. Behind it, Lucian could see a quartz fireplace fitted into the wall and separated by clear glass that showed the dark stone beneath.

Beyond that is a door that led to another room, while the stairs led to more doors that indicated more rooms.

On left is a kitchen that is partitioned by the white marble bar and gray stools. The bar are the same as the kitchen cabinets and counters that filled most of the space, the monotony broken up with a potted plant that sat near the edge of the bar. The lights hung low over the bar, illuminating the space in a soft orange glow where it is untouched by the sun.

Lucian had to make himself close his mouth when Levi turned to regard him and led him up the stairs while Wallace remained in the living room.

He followed Levi towards one of the doors where the dark-haired teen reveal a bedroom that is completely dark with the curtains drawn tightly together.

The walls are pale turquoise, almost distinguishable from white due to the shadows that filled the room.

To the right is a queen size bed with several white and blue duvets and pillows. The nightstand next to it held a silver lamp with black swirls on the white cover.

To the left of the room was a white bookshelves that held all manners of books and Lucian found himself drawn to them immediately.

"This is the guest room," Levi stated, "The bathroom is the first door to the left, if you feel the need to use it."

"Thanks," Lucian said, trying to maintain his composure.

"There is a balcony beyond the curtains," he added, "If you would like some fresh air."

The blonde failed to hide his amazement this time and Levi continued, "I will have Wallace bring up an icepack and some water for your medication."

Lucian nodded dumbly as he made his way over to the bed, suddenly feeling exhausted as he sat on it.

"You're welcome to rest," Levi said, "You'll be joining me for dinner?"

"Sure," the boy said, barely stifling a yawn.

Levi hid a smile, "I'll be coming up then."

He then left the room, while Lucian got up and walked over to the windows, pulling the curtain aside.

He stared out at buildings below, wondering just how on earth did he get here.

Strangely, part of his mind didn't feel puzzled by the circumstance, almost like there's a sense of déjà vu in this.

Lucian shook his head at the silliness and thought about how his brother will react to this, he obviously hadn't seen the message yet if he had not replied.

As if on cue, his cellphone begin to buzz continuously and he pulled it out to see a string of messages appear on the screen.

He sighed and begin to explain the situation all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> These are the characters that have appeared so far:
> 
> Light = Lucian Yanagi
> 
> L = Levi
> 
> Watari = Wallace
> 
> Mikami = Michael Roberts
> 
> The other characters are original and of course Levi and Wallace are not their real names but this is what they'll be going with usually.
> 
> I have nothing else to add.
> 
> My brain is mush.
> 
> AA/N: (additional notes)
> 
> This had been updated cuz I felt it was incomplete towards the end.
> 
> Also, I probably ain't updating anytime soon until November because of exams.
> 
> Also, the 70-inch plasma screen TV is a reference, if anyone can guess.
> 
> Also, my brain is still mush, it's 3a.m. for me when I finished this.
> 
> My mushy brain is telling me Red's music is godamn awesome and that I really want Light to sing them. (hint hint)
> 
> …XD
> 
> And the Death Note musical songs are sounding dope. I prefer Urai Kenji's version though.


	9. Warning Signs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, here we are, just a little note before this starts. I've edited the previous chapter, for those who'd read this earlier and are not currently aware of that. It wasn't much, just the scene of Lucian at Levi's house – added in because I felt that it was incomplete. If you're done with that then, enjoy? :P

_What on earth am I doing?_

Levi asked himself that as he glanced at the footage on the monitors, one of them from the hidden cameras in the guest room.

Lucian was shown in bed, sound asleep.

That's certainly a relief, he had looked about to collapse from exhaustion just a few minutes before.

Levi heard the door to his office open, the one that Lucian saw behind the fireplace, he turned to find Wallace with a stern look on his face.

"You brought a friend home," Wallace said, not looking pleased in the slightest.

"That I have," Levi conceded, ready for his judgment.

"You have never done that before," he stated.

Levi decided to cut to the chase, "I am aware that this is a security risk, however it wouldn't do to leave him in his own home."

Wallace raised his graying eyebrows, "He would be safer in his own house."

Levi merely stared at him in silence.

"Is he not?"

"His familial relations proved to be harming," Levi said, "I had to take matters into my own hands."

A different look manifested on Wallace's face, one that held a deep understanding for his ward, "I see, but I don't get it, why bring him here of all places?"

"It was on a whim," Levi continued unfazed as Wallace exclaimed, "A whim?!" and uttered, "Taking this course would help my mission in the long run."

The older man looked exasperated, as he grumbled to himself and said, "So you're going to count on his friendship?"

"Indeed," Levi said, "It would aid in my disguise as 'Levi Lynwood' and further establish my position within this area, the Kira Cult cannot harbor any suspicion on me as a newcomer."

Wallace sighed, then said, "Do whatever that you may, I ask that you take caution in forming bonds with the boy."

He cast a pair of heavy eyes upon his ward, "Do not fall like the first L did."

Levi stared at him blandly, "It was actually uncertain whether he died because of his trust in the treacherous Kira (or the second L), even if the accounts suggests so."

He turned back to the screens, "Besides, without footage or records, recounts of events from thirty years ago are bound to be shaky, the first L could've been lying about his friendship from the start."

"Just be careful," Wallace said as a finality.

"Do not worry, Wallace," he said, "I will be vigilant."

* * *

_Darkness._

_It surrounds him, threatening to consume him whole with the passage of time, shadows coiling around his invisible consciousness, dragging him deeper into the pit of nothingness._

_It was the only thing that exists, the only thing that remains real in this state of nothingness where at any moment he felt as if he is going to fade away and disappear in the non-existent forever._

_"Raito-kun."_

_He twitched, even as he was without a body, at the voice that appeared out of the blue, an abnormality in the endless silence. He thought it sounded familiar, the deep baritone had been imprinted in his mind. Yet in this darkness, it seemed impossible to place the identity of the speaker, his mind had been slowly decaying, eaten away by the emptiness._

_"Raito."_

_It turns soft, almost tender as the voice seemed to move closer, the words whispering wisps right next to his non-existent ear, bringing his already dulled senses into a lull._

_Suddenly, the black space began to fill with an air of violent rage and he trembled, beginning to flinch as the voice began angrily._

_"KI-"_

"-cian?"

The boy jerked awake with a gasp, wincing as pain flared in his side without warning.

All earlier thoughts and dreams were chased out of his mind, wiped clean by the prominence of consciousness.

He opened his eyes and blinked, finding the older teen standing above him, his black eyes staring straight at him.

The events of the day came back to him, replacing every last layer of blankness in his mind.

"What time is it?" he groaned, his voice painfully scratchy.

"Six-thirty," Levi replied, "You have been asleep for three hours."

Lucian mumbled inaudibly, rubbing his eyes as the dark-haired boy added, "Dinner is ready."

"Yeah, give me a second," he said, sitting up slowly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," he said, yawning.

Levi stared at his head as if fascinated, "Your hair is a mess."

"Yeah, whatever," he said, running a hand through his sandy hair haphazardly as he glanced at the other male, "Speak for yourself, actually. Do you gel your hair or something?"

Impassive as his face was, Levi somehow managed to look slightly offended, "It's natural."

Lucian looked skeptical, "Can't be."

"It is," Levi said, ruffling his hair, "You can touch it."

The younger boy shot him a disbelieving look as he reached forward and did just that. He was promptly amazed, as Levi's hair is actually soft, unlike the spiky texture that its look promised. His finger lingered, before his eyes snapped downwards and caught Levi's, suddenly embarrassed when those obsidian orbs stared back at him.

Lucian tried not to flush as he calmly retrieved his hand.

"Was that prove enough for you?" The older boy asked, as if bored.

"Yes…" Lucian winced when his voice sounded smaller than he intended it to be.

"Let us go," Levi said, slouching out of the room as if nothing happened.

* * *

Levi watched the other boy intently as he chewed on spinach, deep in thought.

Touch his hair; no one had ever touched his hair before, save for Wallace when they needed to trim it.

_Why on earth had I allowed him to get so close to me to do that? Hell, I even invited him to touch it!_

Although, the feelings of those fingers in his hair had been rather nice, if he would admit it. Lucian had seemed nervous after that, for some reason. Levi had not studied him long enough to discover why, so he let it slide for now.

Wallace had prepared a vegetarian meal today and avoided most ingredients that people are commonly allergic to, since they hadn't asked him what his meal requirements might be.

Lucian didn't actually have any, but Levi wouldn't have known about it yet, if he were to pass off as merely a student.

A student who is loaded and comes with his own butler-like guardian, that's normal enough.

The silence dragged on between the two of them, Wallace had other errands to attend to so it was just them in the room.

"So… your mother-"

Lucian's posture was suddenly rigid as he interrupted, "I don't want to talk about that."

"Okay."

Silence. Lucian mechanically chewed on his mushrooms.

"What do you do in your spare time?"

The boy glanced at him, "I hang out with my friends and play ball with them sometimes, you?"

Levi thought for a second, "I read, occasionally I might go for a swim."

Lucian flashed an incredulous look at the latter part of the statement, "What do you read?"

"Articles, historical writings, biographies, things of these nature," Levi answered, unperturbed by his reaction. "As for fictional readings I prefer mystery novels."

"Sounds… interesting," Lucian uttered and Levi had a feeling that their interests had nothing in common. "What kind of mysteries?"

"I've read various kinds," he said, "I find that crime mysteries are my favorite, unless if they were poorly written(which most of them are)."

"I see," Lucian said, his eye movement indicated him trying to recall something, "Did you read 'Obsidian Mirror'?"

"By James Layton?"

Levi watched as the boy's eyes brightened as he latched onto something they could talk about, "Remember the scene with the grandfather clock?"

He nodded, "I find the diversion from the identity of the real weapon quite ingenious, even I cannot begin to discern how the story would proceed…"

* * *

The time neared eight and the two had been done with their meal a while ago.

Levi realized that they had much more in common than he had first thought, unknowingly slipping into animated conversation with the apparently bright teen. They discussed about their favorite novels, about famous crimes and how they might solve it if they had been involved, about philosophy and various abstract things, even going into a heated debate about the human consciousness.

He discovered that he shared similar hobbies with Lucian, namely tennis and chess. They had not touched on that in the beginning as both had not found anyone worthy enough to play with seriously. He mentioned he might challenge Lucian sometime, after he gets better.

The dark-haired teen noticed the other getting tired, his eyes drooping ever slightly.

As much as he wanted to continue the conversation, he had better let him rest and recuperate.

"Come," Levi said as he stood, "I shall provide you with the necessities so that you may freshen up and go to bed."

Lucian nodded mutely, standing up after him as he rubbed his eyes.

"The nurse had given you permission to take leave tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"You could stay over," Levi offered, "I'll be taking leave as well."

Lucian looked ready to question his intention, suspicion etched all over his face. He seemed to give up a second later as he mumbled incoherently and yawned. Levi took the mumble as an affirmative and headed towards the stairs.

They made it up the stairs in silence, Levi led him to the bathroom where Wallace had prepared some toiletries, as well as an extra set of pajamas.

"Hey," Lucian started.

Levi turned to face him questioningly.

"Thanks for letting me stay over," he said.

"You're welcome," Levi said in response. "If you want anything you can find me in the next room, I'll be up reading."

Lucian huffed in amusement, "Nerd."

Levi rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he started down the hallway, "Later, prig."

He smiled as he sensed a glare directed towards him, before retreating back into his room.

"Stupid," Lucian muttered to himself, before entering the bathroom for the long-awaited shower and sleep.

* * *

Michael glanced at the time on the clock, disconcerted to find that it is already eight in the morning.

His younger brother hadn't called at all, even when he said he was going to spend the time at a friend's house. He had never done that sort of thing before, Lucian has always returned home dutifully, unlike the irresponsible children he sees that sneaks out of their house every now and then. He had asked his mother about it, but she didn't say much, only muttering about Lucian bringing trouble for her and his weird friend that hung around accusing her of things.

It was this weird friend that Michael is worried about. What if he's a trouble maker who could be dragging Lucian around doing all sorts of illegal things right now? He knew there is an endless supply of these kind of people and desperately hoped that his younger brother didn't fall prey to him.

He checked the clock again, only two minutes have passed.

He decided to call Lucian.

Michael's anxiety grew as the ringing went on and no one had picked up, his mind beginning to supply him with all sorts of thoughts with his precious younger brother in peril, with no one else nearby to help him.

'It's the fifth or sixth ring already, what if he's out cold somewhere?' Michael thought worriedly.

His prayers were answered when his call was accepted on the next one, with a very tired, "Hello?"

"Luke, where are you?"

"Michael?" There was the sound of rustling, like he's shifting about on a bed, and a stifled yawn. "Sorry, I just woke up. I'm still at a friend's house."

"Are you going to school today? Do you need me to go pick you up?"

"Huh?" Lucian sound puzzled, "No, I thought I told you the nurse let me stay home until tomorrow. You don't need to pick me up."

"Are you coming home, then?"

"I think so," he said, pausing to yawn, "Just give me an hour or two, I'll call you back later… or something."

"Luke!"

Michael stared at his phone, letting out a series of beeps from the dead line. He couldn't believe his brother is actually considering to stay over his friend's longer, instead of coming home to spend time with his family! Well, just him, he didn't think Lucian actually liked their mother that much, considering how she usually treats him.

Anxiety churned in his gut at the prospect of not seeing his Lucian for another day or so. When Andrina told him Lucian have came home early, he'd rushed home to see what the problem was, only to learn that he'd left the moment he was back. That thought in itself is troubling, then she told him that he seemed to have went off with some weird teen who had insulted her in her face. Lucian then texted him to say that he was staying over at somebody's and it wasn't Tasha or Neville or someone that he knew. He thought he knew all of Lucian's friends, but apparently not this one, whoever he was.

He swears, if something happened to his brother with this guy, he's going to find him and end him personally.

But first, he'd to find out who he is and keep him away from his little brother.

No one is going to take his light from him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hm, if anyone knew or noticed, the novel that they were talking about, 'Obsidian Mirror' or whatever stupid random name I gave it, it was a reference to a game that I once played. Some detective themed game thingy, it was on mobile, kinda stupid and mildly interesting. It was called the Layton Brothers, if I am not wrong. It was fun… until it said I had to pay for more content.
> 
> Just…
> 
> Seriously? (-_-)


	10. Tennis and Coffee

The bell rang for the last time that day, signaling the end of school. Kids burst out into the hallway in droves, shouts and loud chatters the only thing to be heard throughout the school as most of the student population rushed for home, or going to hang out, depending on the wishes of each individual.

In the midst of it is a sandy-haired boy, the dark brown tips of his hair gone after a trim a few days ago. It had been over a week since he made acquaintances with the older teen, over that period of time he learnt a bit about the other teen, such as the fact that Levi had came from England and that cake is apparently his favorite food and things like that. Lucian saw him a few times in school as well as exchanged a few idle texts which mostly consisted of them poking fun at each other, making him roll his eyes a number of times in class when he thought nobody is looking.

He had asked today if Lucian was feeling up to a game today and well, he was.

"Hey Luke!"

Lucian spotted his two friends standing by Tasha's locker, waving at him. Today, the girl had her long dark hair up in a ponytail, as well as a bunch of silver earrings in her ears. She mentioned she had gotten a few piercings over the weekend and Lucian had to say that they look great. Tasha was wearing a black tank and ripped denim shorts with a couple of silver beads sewed in. She brought a bag made out of a similar material, completing her look.

Neville stood beside her, wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans that day, carrying his usual shoulder bag. He cast a goofy smile his way, looking more distracted as usual for some reason.

Lucian barely had time to wonder about that when the both of them came up to him.

"Hey, I'm free for a while today," Tasha said, curling a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Want to go hang out at the arcade? Neville is going."

Lucian eyed his larger friend as he wiped the stupid grin off his face almost sheepishly, making him wonder what is up, "Sorry, I'm going to hang out with Levi today."

"Levi?" Tasha had a questioning look on her delicate face, her piercing blue eyes a mismatch with it, "That 11th grader? I didn't know you were friends with a high-schooler."

It was understandable, coming from her. Lucian is not a person who makes friends easily, or rather, he wouldn't make friends with just anybody and you had to know him for quite a while to become his friend and that is if he likes you enough. It wasn't easy for Lucian to like people, so he didn't really bother. That was just how he worked.

He had known Tasha and Neville for a year each before they became friends, therefore she was rightfully confused that Levi had earned his friendship after less than two weeks of knowing each other. It had made Tasha raise an eyebrow when she saw Lucian running by and slapping the taller boy on the back, where he had turned around with a bemused look on his face, while the other ran away laughing.

"I'd say he is almost there," Lucian said, shrugging, "There's just something about him, I guess."

The girl tilted her head, deep in thought. "Hmm, he's quite intriguing, if you think about it."

Neville's eyes snapped to her, "You think? I think he's weird."

"About the same thing," she shrugged, then dismissed her musings completely. "Let's go, enjoy the rest of your day, Luke."

Lucian rolled his eyes at the nickname that she picked up from his brother, "See ya."

They waved goodbye, and Lucian noticed that Neville seemed to be following the girl at a closer proximity than usual. The boy shook his head and continued on his way to their meeting place.

* * *

 Unsurprisingly, he found Levi surrounded by people when he walked into the school garden.

The older teen was sitting upon the bench, four girls and a guy are either sitting beside him or standing, attempting to chat to him. Lucian almost chuckled at the miserable look on his face as one of the girls tried to flirt with him. Apparently some of the students found him interesting that they collectively mobbed him whenever they found the opportunity. Unfortunately for them, he didn't think the same.

As Tasha had mentioned, he is quite intriguing and attractive in a strange way, that was presumably what attracted the girls in the first place, seeking to earn his favor in a multitude of ways. It was a wonder that Levi even bothered to come to school at this rate, he didn't seem like the type willing to put up with these nonsense.

The seventeen-year-old then happened to turn his way, spotting Lucian at the gate. His face seemed to brighten at that, even though there was barely any expression on his face.

"I gotta go," he said rudely, ignoring the protest of his fans as he made his way over to the teen huffily, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets.

"Not saying bye to your friends?" Lucian teased.

Levi rolled his eyes, "When pigs fly, maybe."

"There's no pigs around here for miles," he retorted, "How are you going to know when they do?"

"Once I see floating bacon," Levi smirked, "It didn't say that the pigs have to be alive and whole."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Neither does floating apples."

"What?"

"Nothing."

* * *

 They took a bus downtown, to the stadium that Lucian had seen days ago. Levi had booked a court there and told Wallace to drop their equipment off in the lockers. The boy had brought a change of clothes to play in, while Levi's clothes are among the things Wallace had left.

Lucian was slightly envious that Levi had someone to wait on him such that he never need to bring around much, while the older boy told him that he could've had Wallace bring extra clothes for him if he liked. He then argued that he would rather trouble himself than the poor man, since he seemed to be busy enough handling Levi's affairs, Levi remarked that he was just stubborn.

The journey there was anything but boring, evidently.

It wasn't long before the two were changed and facing each other in the court, the sun beating down upon them.

Lucian was in an old and faded t-shirt and shorts, he didn't have proper sportswear since he didn't really have the money for it; Andrina had mostly kept his allowance to the required minimum. Michael did spare some of his cash for him but that was spent on more useful things, like books. Levi wore a white shirt and a pair of jeans that are looser than what he usually wore, and that was because he hadn't bothered.

Typical.

While Lucian was warming up and Levi watched him as he drank water, he said, "How about we make this more interesting?"

"Hm?" The boy stared up from the ground as he stretched his calves.

"Playing just to win is a little boring, don't you think?" Levi capped the bottle and sat it on the bench, "How about a better incentive?"

"Like bring treated dinner?" Lucian suggested, standing up.

A gleam appeared in Levi's eyes like he had thought of the perfect idea, "How about that café across the street, I hear it's good."

The boy turned to see the restaurant across the street, where a line was forming up as people hurried to buy food.

He turned back to face the older teen, who stated with a smile, "Loser will have to pay for both of our meals."

"Deal." Lucian smirked back, "And you'll be the one to lose so get ready to fork up the cash."

"I will not lose," Levi said smilingly, "And get ready to empty your wallet because I eat a lot of sweets."

"Hah, you wish."

Levi responded, snatching up the racquet, "We'll see about that."

* * *

Levi sat in the booth enjoying his victory cake about two hours later, while Lucian sulked in front of him. He'd lost by a hairsbreadth, missing the ball in the crucial last set.

Truthfully, the whole game had been unfair to Lucian because he had been younger and his limbs didn't have the reach that Levi has, even though he played just as well. Levi had offered to pay for both their food in the end but Lucian stubbornly refused, even with the knowledge of his handicap.

He had barely enough to cover the costs of the strawberry cheesecake that Levi had eyed, along with a tall glass of sundae that he requested to be served later in fears that it will melt while he is eating the cake, and a cup of coffee that he had dumped about ten sugar cubes in.

That left Lucian with nothing on his plate, as he glared at the older teen obnoxiously munching on the cake.

Levi noticed his stare, "Do you really not want anything?"

"It's fine," he grumbled, "I lost, fair and square."

"Are you mad because you lost or because you have to watch me eat?"

"Both," he growled.

Levi thoughtfully licked some cream off the spoon, "Why not I order a drink for you? It's a treat."

"No thanks."

"It is a personal treat," Levi added, looking at him seriously, "It has nothing to do with our game."

Lucian seemed to be considering.

"Come on, the food here is really good."

The boy eyed the coffee that had been practically drenched in sugar, "I doubt it."

In the end, he caved and asked for a cup of mocha and with Levi's insistence, took the sundae that the older teen had saved for himself. It wasn't clear whether Levi had actually intended for that to happen but Lucian wasn't complaining since it was actually pretty good.

* * *

 Michael checked his watch and saw that it was almost six in the evening, his brother had said he'll be home by now.

He abandoned the book he had been reading and lifted the curtains, spotting both Lucian and the friend he said he was going to spend time with earlier that day, chatting as they walked down the street towards his house.

His gaze grew steely when he saw his brother laughing as they shoved each other for fun, before falling in step with each other as they talked, Lucian smiling with a look that bordered on being entranced.

The young man let the curtain fall back, running a hand through his black hair and checked his expression in the mirror, trying to form an amiable smile and failing a few times. On the fourth try, Michael deemed it good enough and headed for the front door.

* * *

"You were actually the Junior Champion?"

Levi shrugged, "Just in England, though. I don't compete anymore, it wasn't that much fun."

"Huh."

"But today's game was fun," he said as a crooked smile spread upon his face, "I would like to play you again sometime."

They came to a stop in front of the house.

"Sure," Lucian smirked, "I'll win the next time."

"How about when you grow a little bit taller?" Levi said, dodging a strike from his bag.

"Ass," he snarled.

"Not the first time someone called me that," Levi shrugged nonchalantly.

"What a surprise," Lucian rolled his eyes as he walked up to the porch.

He reached for the door and started when it swung inwards, stepping back. The light from the house revealed his older brother who smiled as he stared at them both.

"Welcome home, Luke," he said, turning his eyes upon the other teen, "And this is?"

"Oh, this is a friend from school," Lucian said, gesturing to him, "His name is Levi. Levi, this is my brother, Michael."

"Good evening," Levi greeted.

Michael chuckled, "There's no need to be so polite, a friend of Lucian is like a friend of mine."

"Uh, sure."

"I just made dinner," the older male said, "Would you like to join us?"

"That's alright," Levi said, "I was just about to leave."

"I insist," Michael said as he stepped aside, "There's more than enough for three people. Since our mother is not home today, I would hate for the food to go to waste."

The teen glanced at Lucian, who shrugged.

"Alright," Levi said reluctantly.

"Oh good," Michael exclaimed, making his way happily into the kitchen, "I shall go make preparations."

Levi followed the blonde into the house and leaned in to whisper by his ear, "Your brother is strange, no offense."

"None taken," he mumbled back, "You haven't seen the worst of it."

"I hope I won't," he muttered, closing the door behind him as he resigned his fate to the possibility of a dinner from Hell.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, this time I just have a little story to tell, about how much L loves cake. We all know he absolutely adores cake, but you have heard nothing yet.
> 
> That time I was playing Sims 4, I created a version of Light and L just for fun, that version of Light was more off than L had been, I even set him up with a sluggish walk to make him resemble the original even more (the hell was I on). Then it was a while after that, I created a random household and put them next to Light and L's house. The game then considers them NPCs, so there's this welcome wagon thing, where their neighbor comes to greet them and bring cake and etc.
> 
> So Light came to say hi, while L was carrying the cake. I was exploring my new mods that time so I didn't really pay attention. But when I did, guess what…
> 
> L ate the freaking cake.
> 
> …
> 
> …
> 
> Like how did the game even know XD, NPCs are not supposed to do that, what the heck. XD
> 
> Yep, L totally, absolutely, loves cakes.
> 
> I don't think Light would be pleased about that if he finds out. :P


	11. Past and Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, I did say something about not being free because of exams.
> 
> I'd say forget about that, apparently no exams can stop me from writing (I just finished a paper today too xD). Well, here is the next chapter, a little unexpected treat for you guys, enjoy! :P
> 
> And before anyone gets triggered, the views that will be expressed in here are not mine, but what I think the characters would have based on what I've seen and also caused by their experiences within the fic. So... chill?

The three sat around the dinner table, where Michael served plates of braised chicken with mashed potatoes and peas.

Levi eyed the peas cautiously when his plate was passed over, fighting the urge to pick up the fork and poke at the evil little green balls. He generally didn't have problems with most vegetables, but he would say that he never had a good experience with these.

In short, he hates peas.

At the same time, he didn't feel like inciting any weirdness that Lucian's brother seemed to have by requesting to get rid of them. It would appear rude as well. He wouldn't care most of the time but he thought he should indulge Michael a bit until he learn what sort of person he really is, if he is more like Andrina or more like Lucian.

Michael went to sit down as soon as he is done, "Are you religious, Levi?"

"No," Levi said, "I am more of an skeptic."

"Ah, that's nice, we wouldn't have to do prayers then," Michael chuckled, "It really annoyed me because really, what has God ever done for us?"

"That is… a truly extreme view," Levi commented dully, glancing over at the other boy.

Lucian was staring at his glass of water, wanting nothing more than to be done with this awkward dinner and leave. The way that Michael is behaving right now is just downright embarrassing. He should've encourage Levi to go home instead of having to witness this.

"Never mind that," Michael said with an uncharacteristic cheerfulness as he picked up his fork, "Let's eat."

* * *

"So what do your parents do, Levi?"

The teen had just conquered his worst enemy on the plate when Michael came to that question, turning over to him as Lucian took a sip of water.

"My parents are dead," he said matter-of-factly as he took a bite of the chicken that thankfully, tasted much better than those hellish green things.

"Oh, that is…" Michael hesitated, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Levi said, "I don't remember them anyway."

"Oh, I see…" Michael looked solemn for a moment, then seemed to remember that he had a guest, "I apologize, I just think it's sad. You remind me of Luke over here, he's-"

Lucian's fork clattered against the plate, as he abruptly said, "I'm done."

Levi watched him shoot a warning look over at his older brother, before standing and leaving the room.

"I'm sorry, I realize I wasn't supposed to talk about that," Michael uttered, glancing at the food that was still left on the plate.

Levi didn't answer, as he stared at the doorway that Lucian had left through, pondering about what Michael had almost said to upset him this much.

* * *

"Thanks for the meal," Levi said, as he prepared to leave the house.

"No problem," Michael flashed him an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry about what happened earlier, Luke can be a little offhand sometimes."

"I'm well aware of that," Levi bade him goodbye as he strolled down the streets that are now lit yellow by the lamps.

He glanced over at the window on the second floor, finding the curtains illuminated by light. Levi imagined that Lucian is up in his room, probably sulking and mad at his brother for almost telling a sensitive aspect of him to a friend that he barely knew. He might be lying on his bed reading and probably ignore his brother for a few hours after that, or doing his homework to distract himself from the earlier events.

He didn't know whether that is true, but that just seems like a very Lucian thing to do.

Despite his oddity, Michael appear to care about his brother a lot, that much he could tell. He was rather polite as well, even though Levi could feel a certain coldness to his eyes that wasn't touched by his smile, no matter how friendly he had appeared to be, which is rather strange. That was also amplified by how he saw the curtain in the window fall just moments before they reached his house, he said that Andrina is not at home so it was probably him who was watching them.

Levi settled on the thought that he's just protective of his younger brother, judging from what he had mentioned earlier about parents and God and all.

As Levi continued on his way towards the parking lot where Wallace would be waiting to pick him up, he took out his phone and sent a quick message.

_Are you okay?_

The teen continued down the path for about five minutes with the phone in his hand, but saw no reply.

So, he's not okay, he probably didn't want to touch on that, knowing him.

He thought he might ask Lucian whether he wants to talk about it but dismissed it as being as ineffective as the first message. Levi saw no way to broach the subject unless Lucian decides to tell him first, so he forgot about asking him.

_I'll see you at school tomorrow?_

That one saw a reply promptly as his phone vibrated.

_Sure._

Levi let a little smile show on his face as he headed towards the Rolls Royce.

* * *

"I never knew my dad," Lucian muttered, resting his head on his arms as he stared over at the city glowing in the night.

Levi glanced over at him where he was leaning on the railings and kept quiet.

It was April a year later, the eight months had the both of them grew much closer and they barely spent their free time without each other, unless the other had been busy. This was caused also by Lucian's two oldest friends who started going steady. Tasha and Neville's conversations had begun to include more of each other as their attentions drifted away from him. Lucian found himself talking less and instead watched as they chatted about insipid topics that he didn't care about. It made him feel invisible and a bit lonely. He thought that maybe they didn't even notice. The boy decided not to get in their way and found some other people to talk to. But they proved to be incredibly boring and Lucian found himself drifting aimlessly between people and finally settled on Levi, who always seemed to be available for him.

It felt like he was the only one who truly knows him.

This was another night that Lucian had decided to spend the night at Levi's apartment during the weekend, sitting on the darkened balcony on a Friday as they looked over the bustling city below.

"I was told that Andrina had been in an affair with my dad," he started quietly. "That time she had been married with my brother's dad, Mr. Roberts. He found out about it and divorced her, Michael was only seven when that happened. She was heartbroken and tried to abort me, but Michael stopped her, sobbing and pleading for her not to get rid of the baby. She ended up having me in the end, reluctantly. Andrina didn't like me from the start so she gave my dad's last name to me instead of her husband's, which she kept. It was like she wanted me to know that I didn't belong and always treated me like an outsider. If not for Michael…"

He trailed off, ducking his head as Levi reached over to pat him comfortingly on the back.

"Thanks for listening," he said in a rush, still not facing his friend.

Levi suspected that he might be crying, or battling with unshed tears about the unfortunate circumstance of his family.

He didn't pry and instead muttered, "I'll always be here to listen, if you want to talk."

Lucian let out a soft huff as he chuckled, "Sorry, I must seem like a weak, pitiful wreck right now."

"Hardly," Levi smiled.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I don't think you're weak," Levi said honestly, "I think you were strong for moving on despite your bad past. And I think you were brave for sharing that with me."

Lucian turned to stare at him, his amber eyes brimming with tears, making them resemble honey, or priceless gems.

He spun away, clearly embarrassed as he grumbled, "Whatever."

Levi chuckled.

"Stop laughing at me, dammit!"

"Ow," Levi uttered as he didn't quite dodge that strike.

"I wasn't laughing at you," he pouted.

"You deserve another whack for lying, you idiot!"

"I wasn't lying."

"Three!"

"Damn."

At least he seemed to be in a better mood, Levi thought as he rubbed his abused head.

* * *

Long after Lucian had retreated into his room, Levi went through the information that he had accumulated over the eight months.

He sat in his office, his pale face lit up a ghostly blue by the monitors as he read through the reports.

Levi reached over for a cookie and munched down on it, before tugging at his lip frustratingly.

He learnt that the Kira Cult members spoke through some sort of secret code that he had yet to decipher, he had taken in the possibility that the official members of the Cult can see the Death God and had it talk to them instead, which is why he was unable to track their codes. This meant that they have the Death Note and seemed to have not used it yet. They're probably waiting for their God to return so that the weapon would be used by its rightful owner.

Still, he had not found the location of their meetings.

Levi plucked his thumb out of his mouth when he realized that he was gnawing on it.

Even when he went through the records of powerful and wealthy figures in this city, he found no trace of the leader or any strange activities attached to them, when he was sure that one of them was bound to be the crafty and influential person behind the Cult.

It might be someone truly intelligent which was what Levi sought to dig out next, the records and activities of every scholar, professor, people who specialize in law and medicine and all that.

Nothing.

Whoever it was had covered their tracks really well, maybe even posing as a person of average intellect because they knew what would attract attention.

Levi sighed, and reached for another cookie, only to find his plate empty.

Dammit.

He glanced at the monitor showing Lucian's room, where he had shifted in his sleep and mumbled something incoherently.

Levi admitted to himself that he had grown attached to the kid beyond his wildest imagination, paying slightly more attention to him than the case itself. Somehow, he felt that the had to protect Lucian as the unseen threat of the Kira Cult began to loom over the city and possibly spread to other areas in the country.

Nowhere would be safe after that, he had to find them fast, before they achieved what they had set out to do.

Levi abandoned his need for the sugar fix and dived headlong into his work once again.

* * *

A harsh cackle filled the air as the large figure fell in through the ceiling of a dark room, floating up to the person sitting by the desk as he bounced up and down in excitement.

"So you've found him, Ryuk?"

**"Hell yeah!"**  The Death God laughed again in his harsh voice, " **Now gimme my apple, or I'm going to flip my shit!"**

The figure grumbled to itself, before tossing the bright red fruit to him.

Ryuk cackled as he held the apple adoringly, before tearing into it frantically with his needle-like teeth.

The figure shook its head as the shinigami moaned happily between munches, licking his black fingers as if attempting to capture every drop of the apple's essence.

It looked upon the black book on his table, illuminated by the lamp as its hand came to caress it lovingly, "Soon, our God Kira will return to our side."

**"Eh, how can you be so sure that he will?"**  Ryuk questioned,  **"The kid's not the same person anymore."**

"Silence!" The figure ordered, "You moronic creature!"

Ryuk looked offended but continued to listen as it went on, "Kira will return to us, once we give him this Death Note, he will remember us and his mission to cleanse the world of evil! Raito Yagami will be ours once again, just as we are his loyal subjects."

The figure then hugged the book, stroking it almost reverently, "My Raito-kun will come back one day."

Unseen by the figure, Ryuk rolled his yellow eyes and stuck out his black tongue as he muttered, " **Love**."


	12. The Enclosed World

It was a quiet morning on a Wednesday, where the Roberts are having breakfast at the table. Andrina is joining her two sons for a meal of sunny side ups and buttered toast that Michael had prepared. This was a rare occurrence in itself, as Andrina was most decidedly not a morning person. However, whenever an unknown force propels her to climb out of bed in the early hours, it shall not go unheeded. And there she was, hair slightly ruffled and bleary eyed, as she mechanically chewed on a piece of bread. Her platinum blond hair had been cut short recently in a rather fashionable bob, when one of her girl friends had stated that it'll make her look younger. Instead, it had the opposite effect, making her look more mature but also more refined and that resulted in attracting better, more refined men.

That's probably the only reason why she hadn't killed her yet.

Her younger son, Lucian sat eating quietly, not keen to incur the abrasive wrath that Andrina usually possess around him. It was rare that she woke up early and it was even rarer for her to be in a mood where she wasn't incited by his presence whatsoever and Lucian was content on leaving the sleeping tiger alone. That leaves Michael the only one who seemed cheerful enough to talk, telling their mother stories from his job where she blandly hummed in response.

He barely paid attention to his brother's words as he rambled on, thinking that he might want to ask Levi as well as the couple out for a quick game of basketball sometime soon.

He had played with Levi once, it was a leisure match between the two of them. While the older teen had barely touched a basketball before, he was decent for an amateur player, even though the ball had escaped him more times than they could count in the beginning.

It was refreshing to see the look of frustration upon the other teen's face and Lucian couldn't help but laugh at his obvious lack of skill after he had honestly tried his best to stifle it. He laughed even louder when Levi openly scowled for the first time, before quashing his amusement to teach him the basics.

But really, he wasn't bad at all, he picked up the skill quicker than most people could, which is a feat in itself. He actually made Lucian sweat a little when he tried to steal the ball from him afterwards.

Lucian was pulled out of his daydream when he vaguely heard his brother mention his name, head snapping to face him in surprise. He realized that Michael hadn't been talking to him and was in fact, talking about him.

"He scored full marks on that mathematics test, it was a hard one too," Michael happily reached over to pat his head, much to his exasperation at being treated like a child.

He swatted Michael's hand away, while Andrina uttered, "Full marks?"

"Yep," his brother was positively beaming, "Isn't Luke just the smartest?"

Lucian was almost afraid to see her expression at the statement and his fears were realized when he turned to see a stern and disbelieving look in her pale eyes.

"Did you cheat?"

His brother was taken aback, "What? No, mom, he didn't. Luke is very hardworking, you should see all the studying that he had done."

"It's not possible to get full marks like that," Andrina snapped, before turning to the younger boy, "You cheated, didn't you?"

"I didn't cheat."

"You-!"

"Mom, please," Michael said placatingly, "Luke's grades had always been at least an A- so this isn't really all that impossible."

Andrina gave her son a scrutinizing stare as he unhappily picked at the half-eaten egg and turned to the older one, "Why are you defending him when you have nothing to back it up with? For all you know, he could be lying-"

"I didn't hear it just from him," Michael insisted, "His teachers had mentioned it-"

"And why hadn't I heard of this?"

"That's because he had been down to meet them when  _you were supposed to_!"

Andrina's eyes snapped to Lucian's where they are brimming with unshed tears, the hidden anguish and pain all in plain sight for her to see even while he tried in vain to vanquish it. But it came, unbidden and silent as the dam had overflowed with years of emotion he hid from her because she mustn't see how much it had hurt him.

His mother's tongue were caught in her throat at the strength of accusation that Lucian's eyes had spoke of, her frosted orbs seemed to grow clear as his glimmered and clouded more with emotion that threatened to fall out and render him empty.

He stood, the chair shrieking against the force on the tiled floor and he fled.

"Luke!" Michael stood too, making to follow his younger brother but he was already out the door, his departure announced with a loud slam.

He turned to cast his mother a baleful glance, before running out as well.

Andrina grumbled, ran a hand roughly through her hair and stared at the cooling plate of eggs with a newfound revulsion.

* * *

The young teen sped down the quiet streets of the residential area, the modest white-walled and blue-roofed buildings much like his house flew past him in a blur as silent tears fell with every few steps of his footfalls upon sidewalk. He had little regard to the curious stares of the elderly neighbors that were out gardening, or the direction that he was running.

He just wanted to get away from his mother as her stinging hatred as much as he could, as far as his legs would take him.

Lucian ran until his breaths were all but expended, until the ground beneath him switched from concrete into dried leaves that flew about in his path, flying haphazardly behind him before settling again in the damp soil. At some point his shoes slipped on the a wet stone and he tumbled into the leaves, scrambling forward blindly before his fingers clutched upon the rough bark of a tree. He heaved silently, fresh tears stinging his eyes while his mind screamed and his muscles protested the abuse as his frame shook as he resisted the urge to cry out and voice his despairs into the depths of the woods.

Slowly, he drew his legs from their awkward, splayed position, his pants now damn with the moisture of the undergrowth after the rain from last night. He tucked them closely to himself, hiding his face in his knees as he curled up beneath the tree.

His phone buzzed a number of times but he ignored it, too consumed by grief to pay attention to it.

Lucian wasn't sure how long he had remained there but when he grew calm enough to assess himself, the chill of the forest air had seeped into his bones. He shivered, wrapping his arms tighter around himself as he surveyed the area with weary eyes.

There was nothing but thin trees and dull leaves in front of him, all of the forest seemed alive yet devoid with life at the same time, the branches looked like creaky old arms, thin and dark and emaciated as they swayed gently in the almost non-existent breeze.

A gray squirrel chattered as it flitted up one of the larger trees, disappearing out of sight as if it found a portal to leave this miserable woods behind. A bird's shrill cry sounded from somewhere far off, as if belonging to another world.

The teen shivered again, the lifeless forest striking a chill into him as he struggled to his feet, wondering how he had gotten here in the first place, to such a sad, dark dimension that he wasn't aware exist in the small woods near his home.

Lucian thought to check his phone and found fifteen missed calls from Michael and two from Levi, as well as text messages from them and Tasha.

_Where are you_  and  _are you okay_  made up the most of them, with Michael's texts sounding increasingly frantic the more he looked.

Lucian was about to text back that he's fine and will be home soon when a loud snap jerked his head to the sound, his eyes wide with fear.

He caught sight of something dark moving beyond the trees, its form willowy and tall, distorted by the mass of trees that obscured his sight. But the trees weren't able to hide the fact that it had seen him and made its way in his direction resolutely, leaves rustling loudly as it crept closer and closer towards him.

The boy tore out of the woods as if the fiends of hell had been after him, not caring where he was headed as long as he got away from  _that thing_ , whatever it was.

Unbeknownst to the boy, the figure was a person rather than a malevolent spirit. It might as well be, as it clasped the dark cover book in its thin hands, the words 'Death Note' written across it. The hand dug into the notebook as it watched the boy flee, clicking its tongue in annoyance as he bolted away like a panicked bird in flight.

**"See, I told ya."**  The figure raised its head, face hidden by the shadows of the trees as it glared at the Death God perched upon a branch, face contorted in amusement.  **"Kid's a damn coward now."**

It snarled, flinging the book at the accursed creature, who simply phased his body out of existence as the book flew through him.

**"Don't get mad at me, it's the truth!"**

The figure ignored it and stepped into the sunlight, long, black hair tumbled over to hang about its face as it bent to pick the book up.

A shadow fell upon the woods as the sun disappeared behind a cloud, concealing its face yet again as it got up and spoke, "No apples for you today, Ryuk."

**"What?"**  The Death God whined,  **"But why?"**

"For speaking ill of our God," it growled, "Raito is no coward, he was simply startled by our presence."

**"Isn't that the same?"**

"I could make it two weeks," it threatened and Ryuk fell silent immediately, "Our Kira is still young, he simply is not yet ready for the burden that would come with undertaking the path of God. We shall wait until he is older, until he is more like himself again."

An invisible smile curved upon its lips, felt rather than seen.

"Raito…"

* * *

Lucian burst out of the bushes that lined the forest, leaves and twigs stuck to his blonde hair as he ran and crashed into a certain tall and dark-haired eighteen-year-old who yelped in surprise at the sudden appearance of something that looked to him like a wild animal in flight.

"Holy- What on earth  _happened_  to you?" Levi exclaimed uncharacteristically, taking in his disheveled form riddled with dead vegetation in his clothes and hair, as he wheezed and clung to his sweater with white, desperate fingers.

"There's- there's a-" He gasped, pointing in the general direction of the woods unsteadily.

"Calm down, Lucian," Levi said, his large eyes were not without concern, "There's a what?"

"Thing!" He blurted, still slightly panicked, " _I don't know_! It was tall and dark, I couldn't see it clearly because the trees were blocking it, but it was freaky as hell!"

"Pardon?" Levi didn't think he understood the boy's blabbering, but felt his terror in the way that his frame rattled as he clung onto him.

He drew his arms around the boy and his tremors seemed to subside as warmth seeped into his skin, replacing the chill that struggled to remain a part of him since he had stepped foot into the forest.

"You saw something in the woods?" Lucian felt his voice resonating through him like a vibration, soothing the desperate stirrings of his frightened mind.

"Y-Yeah," he mumbled, unconsciously breathing in Levi's calming scent from his gray sweater, his fingers hooked it the soft material like a lifeline.

"It's probably someone else who wandered in there," he reasoned, pulling the teen back to look him in the eye, "How long have you been in the forest?"

"I don't know."

"I didn't see you at school today," Levi's brows furrowed in concern, "Were you in there since morning?"

"I guess," he muttered, his expression were that of alarm as he demanded, "School has ended?"

"No, I asked Mrs. Keener for another slip to go look for you at your house," Levi said solemnly, "She wasn't happy about it."

That pulled a nervous laugh out of him, before he realized that they had been holding each other for far too long and pushed off of Levi awkwardly, a pale blush blazed across his cheeks as he ducked his head.

"What happened," Levi asked, his tone careful.

"It's… Andrina," Lucian uttered, "She said some things… it wasn't much. I guess I'm silly for breaking down."

Levi was silent as he surveyed him with a discretion that Lucian would be in disdain of if he wasn't a close friend.

"You're going to be okay?" His tone evoked no sense of pity but genuine concern that Lucian could detect and that satisfied him immensely.

It seemed that he had chosen right.

Lucian raised his head and smiled thinly, "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Levi"

And he meant every word of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I had a Lit paper today and was reading up on the books before I finished writing this last night. I'll not lie, it felt as though the style and the language of one of the books affected me a little, lol. It's the Scarlet Letter, if you wanna know. And if you know it, I have the opinion that Pearl is a little creepy, I mean I know it is a Romance book but what kind of kid- ugh.


	13. Slivers from the Past

The older teen had offered to walk Lucian home after his ordeal in the woods, before that, he had helped the boy get rid of the twigs and leaves that had gotten stuck in his clothes, as well as his hair. He noticed dirt smeared across his person in some places as well, so he handed him some tissues to clean those off.

It wasn't long before Lucian looked more like himself again, except for the couple scratches he'd gotten from tearing through the bushes and the spooked look that had remained on his face.

It begin to gradually dissipate through the duration of the walk, though, where Levi struck him up in a banter that is a little less intense than usual.

The boy did not bother to comment on the annoyingly accommodating gesture, as he was too busy worrying about his brother's reaction once he gets home.

Speaking of which…

"Luke!"

Lucian flinched when Michael barreled towards him as he practically screamed his stupid nickname to the world, before smoldering him in an exceedingly tight embrace as he sobbed.

"Can't… breathe…" He choked, frantically patting his brother's back to get his attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Michael released him, his movements panicked as he checked Lucian over for any injuries, dismayed to find faint scratches on his face and plucked at a twig that he missed out of his sandy hair.

Levi stood to the side, pale hands shoved deep in his pockets and face impassive, seemingly a person who is watching the scene with nothing but an air of nonchalance. Lucian, however, could vaguely tell that he was amused by his brother's birdlike antics. The corner of his lips were tugged up in the slightest amount and his black eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

It was an expression that is telling of his internal laughter.

He wanted to tell Michael to stop fussing over him out of embarrassment but guilt clamped his mouth shut. The guilt was made worse when he had to witness the panicked and extremely worried look that still retained on his older brother's features, his hair and clothes disheveled and slightly stinking of sweat.

Michael must've ran practically all over the town to find him…

"I'm sorry…" He uttered in a barely audible tone, as Michael halted his movement and looked at him.

"That's fine," his brother sounded a little out of breath, the relief prominent in his tone. "I'm just glad that you're safe."

He turned to the older teen, who had said nothing throughout this but stared at them rather strangely, "Thanks for bringing Luke home."

"It's no problem," Levi said, his apparently amused glance turned to his friend, "I guess this is all settled, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Lucian said, barely keeping the annoyance out of his voice.

"Bye, then."

"Asshole," the teen directed that softly at him as he turned, knowing that Levi had heard him as he barked in laughter.

Michael turned to stare at the black-haired boy, puzzled, "What's he laughing about?"

Lucian shrugged, before a smile crept onto his face when his brother turned away, remaining clueless to their quiet and childish jabs at each other.

* * *

The smile melted immediately off of Levi's face when he left the proximity of Lucian's house. He turned to verify that the two had indeed entered the building and could no longer see him before he pulled his cellphone out of the depths of his jeans pocket.

"Wallace," he uttered when his caretaker had accepted the call, "I need you to monitor the Kennelly Woods, a suspicious person had been spotted there, I suspect that the Kira Cult might be involved."

* * *

A black feather, that was what they had uncovered from the woods.

Levi sat in his office a few days later, holding up the sterilized bag in his forefinger and thumb, staring at the feather within.

The woods wasn't a terribly large place, it didn't take too long for him or Wallace to cover the entire area in a matter of hours, looking for things that seemed strangely amiss. It was evident that the forest had been deserted for at least a year, there was no evidence of human activities within it at all, no footprints other than the pair that Levi had confirmed to be Lucian's, no disturbances to the undergrowth other than a few snapped branches of small trees that looked like someone had ran through it wildly, that was Lucian as well.

No litter in the forest at all, that was what made the fact terribly obvious.

There were no large animals in these woods as well, just small critters like raccoons and squirrels and other rodents, as well as a few species of bird, not counting those that pass through in certain seasons during their migration. Even so, those are small-sized birds.

Therefore Levi had found it odd that someone (it was most likely a person) had been seen walking towards Lucian and scared the common sense out of him.

He didn't think he could laugh at the boy, he felt a certain chill to the place while he had been there, the woods had almost felt alien and it admittedly messed with his mind a bit in the short hours that he had been combing the place.

He could remember that the trees were tall and their branches reached thin and far, much like sticks, or skeletons. They had a sparse amount of leaves and those that they have are gray or brown, looking like they were dying. Everything else are also either gray or brown, except for the few plants that grew in the undergrowth. Everything looked a little darker in the woods.

While looking, the feather had caught his eye immediately, the stark blackness of it stood out among the browning leaves on the ground.

It was quite peculiar, he had never seen a feather quite as large as this, it was longer than the entirety of his forearm and it had looked too detailed to be fake. Recalling some of the things he had learnt, it was even more strange when he noticed that the entire hollow shaft of the feather is jet black, when it was supposed to be translucent and white. Even those that belong to black birds like ravens and crows have white tips in their feathers, so this is very peculiar. There is the possibility that the quill had been inked black and used for ceremonial procedures, which points more to the presence of the Cult than anything.

Levi had arranged for the feather to be sent to the labs for verification later and if possible, discover the species of bird that possess this kind of feather, if there is any.

If the feather was real but didn't belong to any birds they know, then maybe…

" _The Death Notes belong to entities that are known as 'Death Gods', or as the Kira Task Force stated, Shinigami. Shinigami are otherworldly creatures that use the Death Note as tools to claim the lives of humans as their own."_

Levi shook his head as the disturbing information from the Kira Case files slipped unbidden into his head. He didn't want to deal with creatures from another world, there are too many uncertainties around them.

But really, what choice would he have?

The Kira Cult would most likely be in possession of a Death Note, which he would most likely have a Death God with it and he most certainly had to deal with those… things.

He knew they looked terrifying, the documents had included a sketch of the Death God that the Task Force had encountered, a creature that is all white bones and white skin.

If there was such a place for them, it would be that particular forest that he found that feather in.

However, he could cross it off the list for where the Kira Cult would be, no group of people would be able to enter the place without leaving it undisturbed, leading him back to square one, again.

Levi eyed the feather left on his desk, the light of his computers seemed dimmer than usual and his imagination fed him the idea that it was absorbing the light around it and replacing it with a tangible, terrible darkness.

He shook his head clear of that thought.

Maybe this can answer a few of his questions, until then he would have to keep looking.

* * *

Andrina sat alone on the side of her bed, finding herself unable to sleep.

It was rather frustrating, as she had actually been awake in the morning, which was usually too early for her, resulting in a heavy, unrelenting tiredness that clawed at her skull throughout the day. Yet, she had trouble falling asleep and it is now past three in the morning.

Nothing accompanied her but the darkness and silence of the night beyond. The woman had been feeling unsettled the whole day now and the sleeplessness didn't help her one bit.

Andrina blamed it on the only source of trouble in her life.

She dragged a hand through her mop of hair and put on her slippers, leaving her room to confront it.

The blonde woman opened the door to her younger son's room, where he lay asleep after having been gone for nearly half the day to who-knows-where. Michael mentioned that he had gone to the woods and really, couldn't he have found a less godforsaken place to go to, no one goes to those woods, ever.

Andrina glared at him but nothing eased the heavy feeling in her heart.

Hah, guilt, what a useless thing to have.

She reasoned that she shouldn't be feeling that, not when the wrong had been done to her.

Left alone, abandoned.

Of course her husband had the rights to leave, but the other man…

Andrina studied her son's sleeping face and decided that he looked too much like him. Charm, clever words, attractive humor, good looks and empty promises.

He said he wouldn't leave her and she believed him.

Look where that landed her.

Alone with two sons to support and the curse where one of them is too much like the man she hates. Right now, she needn't do much, Michael is pretty much a grown man now, he had a job.

But this one on the other hand…

" _That's because he had been down to meet them when_   _you were supposed to_!"

Even Michael didn't look at her right after that.

" _Maybe you should not antagonize him anymore, mom. He's just a kid."_

She huffed, he doesn't even know what had been done to her.

Lucian stirred, shifting in his sleep at the noise.

Hm, light sleeper, just like his dad.

Andrina looked upon her son's face and noted that he looked like his dad as well when he's sleeping. Carefree and innocent. While he was not innocent, his son is.

Maybe, maybe, she'll try.

Andrina closed the door silently, not wanting any of her children to catch her snooping about in her own house.

Maybe tomorrow. She'll have to think about it.


	14. Separation Anxiety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A little reminder before reading this chapter. 
> 
> 'Italics' = thoughts
> 
> Italics = messages
> 
> Just to make it clear, this chapter isn't much (most of them probably aren't) but enjoy! :3

 

 While Lucian changed his shirt for school that day, a loud buzzing attracted his attention. He turned to the nightstand, seeing his phone blinking as he received a text message. The boy flipped it open and saw these words:

_I won't be in school today, there's something I have to take care of._

_-Levi_

He wasn't surprised that it sounded impersonal, Levi does talk like this half the time, so there was nothing to worry about. But he was slightly annoyed that he never stated what it is that he needs to deal with.

Lucian shrugged it off, it wasn't anything important and it wasn't his business to stick his nose in places that his friend doesn't want him to.

He slipped the phone into his pocket and grabbed his bag, ignoring the nagging voice in his head that spoke of irritation.

Besides, Levi did do this a couple of times before and it didn't kill him to spend his break time alone at school or trying to talk with his two friends that seemed to be more invested in each other than ever.

This isn't something to worry about, not at all.

* * *

 

The boy was eating lunch in the cafeteria when a large pale hand slammed into his table right in front of him.

Lucian looked up in annoyance into the face of his most hated enemy, Thomas.

"Hey Lucy," he smirked, flanked by his two idiotic friends Mike and Jason, "Your friend not here today?"

Over the past year, the bully had grown a few inches taller and his shoulders broader, his green eyes sharper and his face uglier than before as more pimples had sprouted on it. Still, that didn't keep him from showing up and sneering at the so-called 'wimps'. His voice is still nasally from the time that Lucian had broke his nose, the boy noted that with satisfaction.

"It's none of your business, Walsh," Lucian uttered, looking away in disinterest.

"Oh really?" Thomas crossed his arms, "Any business of yours is mine ever since our, ah, disagreement."

He laughed at his own joke, while Mike and Jason snickered with him.

Lucian rolled his eyes, "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing," Thomas said, boldly walking to slide into the chair beside him, "I just want to accompany little Lucy, he looks a little lonely."

"Fuck off, Walsh," Lucian glared at him.

Instead of doing that, Thomas tried to wrap an arm around his shoulders, one which he promptly slapped away while Lucian glowered at him.

Thomas stared at him and lunged with a growl, stopping short of slamming his head into Lucian's, while the other tensed, glaring back at him.

"Think I'm afraid of you, little Lucy?" Thomas chuckled, there was no humor in his eyes, "I think not, you little shit, not even when your stupid tree-looking ugly friend is here to protect your wimpy little ass."

"I don't need protection," Lucian snapped, "You better back the fuck off, right now."

"Oh, you don't need protection," the bully said in a sing-song voice, "That'd better be true, I hear he's graduating next year, hm? More time for me to beat your ass in, little pansy."

Lucian snarled and planted a kick in the other boy's chest, sending him crashing to the floor with the chair.

People began to stand up, while Mike and Jason was ready to get revenge when Thomas got to his feet, dusting his pants off.

He pointed at Lucian and said, "I'll remember this, you're getting it from me, you fag!"

The boy rose to his feet, sending the chair skittering and Thomas took an unconscious step back in surprise.

The bully then hurried off, rubbing his chest as his two friends running behind him while Lucian kept glaring at him until he's out of sight.

The boy huffed, sitting back in his chairs, feeling eyes on him.

Normally, he wouldn't feel this bothered but their gazes prickled at his skin, crawling like angry ants upon him.

Lucian grabbed his bag and left the cafeteria in a huff.

* * *

 

The bell rang but the boy didn't make a move to go to his next class.

He sat under the tree by the school garden, staring at the fountain where Levi usually waits for him if they had to go somewhere, until his annoying fans managed to chased him away and they had to change their spots.

_'He'll graduate next year.'_

Lucian picked at his jeans, lost in thought.

_'We probably won't see each other as often.'_

_'Will he go far away?'_

_'What am I supposed to do when that happens?'_

Lucian shook his head, flicking the piece of blue string away.

_'Snap out of it!'_

The blonde was slightly appalled that his thoughts sounded like he was possessive of the other, as if- as if they are in a relationship or something.

_'God, I'm not fucking gay.'_

Lucian was reminded of the rumors that floated around him in his early middle school years because Michael was gay and he had dated a boy while he was in the same school as him.

Eventually, the rumors and bullying got too much that his brother dropped out but it remained, lingering long after his absence. Those that still remember passed it down to the lower grades and it was annoying as hell.

Lucian didn't think he liked boys.

To be frank, he was never interested in anybody because most girls his age are idiots. Maybe except for Tasha, he did had a little crush on her once.

But that's all over now, she got together with Neville and all his interest had fled.

No one was interesting enough.

Lucian picked at a blade of grass, fiddling with it as he went through the possibility of him liking anyone at all.

No one.

He sighed, tossing the blade of grass away. It flipped over once in the air and fluttered onto the ground.

There was a buzzing sound and the boy reached for his cellphone, spotting a message from his female friend.

_Heard Walsh was looking for trouble from you, are you okay?_

_I'm fine,_  Lucian typed.

There was a bit of a pause and another message popped up.

_Really?_

_Yeah, he didn't manage to do anything except for saying stupid shit,_  Lucian replied, adding more words so he doesn't sound so clipped, that always raised a red flag with his friends when he sent messages to them this way.

Nothing came for the next few minutes, so the boy figured his friend might be caught for texting in class.

Lucian stood when his phone buzzed again.

_Cameron just told me you aren't at class._

The boy sighed, slipping his phone in his pocket where it continued to buzz.

_Are you really okay?_

_Lucian, where're you?_

_LUCIAN_

* * *

 

Lucian had snuck out of school by climbing the fence, it was not anything he hadn't done before and it wasn't really that hard to leave with the school's mediocre security system.

He was just wandering around the town when his phone buzzed again.

The boy opened it up and saw a message from Levi.

_Tasha told me you're ignoring her messages, what's wrong?_

Lucian stared at it, told himself that he wasn't that happy to get a text from his friend who had been missing the whole day. He wasn't missing that idiot, godammit.

Besides, he's leaving next year.

In a moment of spite, Lucian replied.

_Don't talk to me._

This time, he shoved his phone in his bag and didn't look at it again for the rest of day.

* * *

 

When he reached home, the sun was beginning to set.

Lucian trudged towards his house, hands shoved deep in his pockets, eyes staring at the top of his shoes.

He raised his head and started, stopping in his tracks.

That was because Levi is standing in front of his house, looking slightly worried. His hands are shoved deep in his jean pockets, one of his sandals tapping on the ground.

He caught sight of the boy and seemed to look a little relieved.

"Lucian."

Lucian unfroze and tore his gaze away from the other boy.

He started walking towards the older boy.

"Hey-"

Levi faltered when Lucian clearly ignored him, swiftly walking past to enter his house.

"Lucian, wait!" Levi managed to grab hold of his wrist before he enters the building, "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," Lucian said, gritting his teeth, averting his eyes the whole time.

"You left school," Levi stated, "I didn't find you there."

"I said don't talk to me."

"What the hell did I even do to you?" Levi demanded, getting irritated.

"Nothing."

Levi stuttered, then growled as he said, "Would you stop being an evasive little ass-"

"You did nothing, okay?" Lucian shouted, glaring at him, "Nothing!"

The older teen stared at him, if Lucian wasn't in such a fit of rage, he would see the gears turning within the blank-looking eyes.

"Is it because I wasn't at school today?" Levi asked in an inquisitive tone.

Lucian forgot his anger for a moment, sure that the other could feel his pulse speed up on his wrist.

"No," he said stubbornly.

Levi stared at him, not letting up on his grip as he cautiously asked, "Then, what is it?"

Lucian said nothing.

"I wouldn't know what I did wrong if you don't say anything," Levi mentioned, "I am unable to discern everything on your mind, Lucian."

"You'releavingnextyear," he said quickly after a moment's hesitation.

"Pardon?"

"You," Lucian grumbled, trying to pull his hand away, "You're graduating next year."

Levi gaped at him, releasing his hold in shock, "Wait, what? Are you upset because-"

"NO! I'm not-" Lucian escaped into his house, slamming the door as he shouted, " _Shut up!_ "

Levi stared at the closed door, stunned.

Meanwhile, Lucian leaned against the door on the other side, his heart racing while his thoughts flew about in a riot.

_'What the hell was that?'_

_'I can't believe I confessed.'_

_'Some confession that was.'_

_'That was so darn stupid.'_

_'I'm not, no, no fucking way.'_

"Lucian?"

He gasped when Levi's voice came from the other side of the door, coming out of his stupor.

There was a long silence and Levi said, "I'll talk to you when you're ready."

Lucian wanted to smash the door.

_'God, you stupid, accommodating bastard'_

He flung the door open where Levi was halfway down the steps. He turned around, setting his black eyes on Lucian.

"Levi, I- uh," Lucian gripped onto the doorknob, anxiety running through his veins and clamping his mouth shut.

_'This has never happened before.'_

Levi stood, waiting.

The blonde didn't manage to say a single word, just stood in the doorway staring at the other boy like an idiot.

"What's going on?"

Lucian jumped at the sudden voice.

Michael stood a little further off on the sideway, his hair ruffled from a day of work. He stared at the two in confusion.

"I'm just leaving," Levi said, turning to leave, "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Lucian."

He said that like it was a promise and a silver of ease went through him. Lucian thought that it didn't make any sense for him to even feel this way when the other boy clearly meant that they are going to talk tomorrow.

He shouldn't be feeling relief for that, really.

But it at least gave him some time to sort out his thinking and figure out what's going on with himself.

"Luke?" Lucian jumped and spun to his brother.

"Aren't you going into the house?" Michael asked, puzzled.

"Uh, yeah," the boy blurted and rushed into the house before he could ask anything.

While he did that, a flurry of thoughts started up in his head.

' _Maybe I didn't want him to leave me.'_

_'What the hell does that make me?'_

_'I didn't even feel that way about Tasha or Neville, or anyone else.'_

_'That sounds gay as hell.'_

_'I think I like him.'_

At that last thought, Lucian stumbled, tripped over the carpet and fell on his face.

"Luke!"

Lucian was deaf to that shout and didn't even register Michael hauling him to his feet and asking him over and over whether he's okay.

_'God, I think I actually like him.'_

The boy felt like fainting, ignoring his brother's frantic shouts as he went limp.

_'Kill me, please.'_


	15. Avoidance

"Lucian's not here today?"

Levi was sitting with Tasha and Neville during lunch, puzzled to find that his friend had been absent from school again, when he had already told Lucian that he'll meet him today.

"He's been ignoring my messages," Tasha said worriedly, "I don't know what happened to him."

The dark-haired boy ran a hand through his haphazard mop of hair, clearly troubled. He ignored his 'fan club', what people had taken to calling those who somehow managed to stalk him around the school right from day five. Now they're huddled about the tables surrounding the one that they're sitting at, chatting excitedly while peeking over at him.

He thought he could avoid them by meeting Lucian in a less crowded place than this but apparently that's not working out.

_What on earth is going on with him?_

Levi tried to recall their recent conversations, wondering if he had unintentionally offended the boy in some way and came up blank.

"I don't get it," he said, shaking his head.

"Maybe he just needs some alone time," Neville suggested.

"Have you ever seen Luke ever needing any alone time from him?" Tasha snapped as she smacked his arm, "They practically stick together like glue!"

"Yeah, but you needed some alone time from me," Neville grumbled.

"That's because you're a doofus! And you always just agree with me, grow your own brain!"

"I have my own brain, it likes to follow yours."

Tasha blanched, "UGH!"

Levi tuned out of their conversation while they began to bicker with each other, taking out his phone to look through their recent messages to see if he could spot the problem.

He sighed, frustrated when he came up with nothing.

Lucian never avoids him, not even when they had an argument about who's the better tennis player. While it isn't like the many major issues they had a heated debate over, this encompasses a large part of their lives and pride, so that becomes important. Even when their relationship went sour over that, Lucian didn't bodily avoid him, simply ignore him in spite but still stuck around.

It wasn't long before he got over it and that childish little spat was quickly forgotten.

"But don't you think it's unnatural when Lucian hung out with him so much?"

Levi tuned back into the conversation, interested.

"What do you mean?"

"You and I," Neville said, gesturing to himself and Tasha, "We've been his friends for three years yet he'd never been as close to us like the way he and Levi are."

"What are you saying?"

"Well," Neville scratched his head, "What's Lucian's favorite sport?"

"Basketball?"

"No," Levi said immediately.

Tasha gaped at him, "But he usually plays that with us."

"He does," the older teen said, "But he prefers tennis over everything else."

The girl blinked, then asked, "Ok then, what's his favorite color?"

"Burgundy."

"Right… what's his favorite place to hang out at?"

"Somewhere high, like the roof or a balcony on a tall building," Levi smiled.

Some of his 'fans' let out little shrieks and he immediately wiped that smile off his face.

"Why?"

"Because he likes to look down on the civilization below and think about how insignificant life actually is and how easily they could be influenced by something out of the ordinary."

"Damn," Neville muttered, "That's Lucian apparently."

Tasha didn't look convinced and asked, "What's his greatest fear?"

That came to mind easily, 'being left all alone.' That was influenced by the circumstance of his family and his attitude in choosing friends due to the fact that he had so little of them and also the fact that he became a third-wheel for a bit because Tasha and Neville started dating.

But Levi didn't answer, not sure whether the boy was confident enough to divulge that to his other two friends. That was when he realized something.

 _'_ _Damn, I'm stupid_.'

"Hold on," Levi said, taking out his phone. That was when the device let out a shrill ringing as he was about to text Lucian.

Levi peered at it, answered the call and found Wallace on the line.

"There's been a development," he said, sounding troubled, "I need you to return home immediately, I've already informed the headmaster so you can leave."

"Alright," Levi hung up and turned to the other two, "I need to go."

"What is it?" Tasha asked, noticing the sudden tenseness in the older teen.

"Something cropped up at home," Levi said as he stands up, "I'll see you guys around."

With that, he grabbed his bag and left, causing his 'fan club' to let out a chorus of disappointed sighs when he promptly left the cafeteria.

The bell rang the next moment.

"Time for class," Neville sighed.

"You mean three hours of hell?"

"That sounds more like it," Neville smirked back.

"Your response is boring."

"I hope that's not the reason you decided to date me."

Tasha rolled her eyes as she grumbled, "Only because you clung to me like a wretched little puppy in the beginning."

"I'm hurt."

"Hurry up," Tasha stated impatiently, "We're going to be late."

"Fine, fine."

* * *

"Thank you, please come again!" Michael said as the last customer left the store, for the time being. Meanwhile, his workmate, a female friend named Abigail was squatted down in front of the display case wiping the glass with a cloth.

Like Michael, she wore a baby blue apron over her everyday clothes, where the apron resembles the theme of the store which is blue and white.

Inside the display case are a colorful assortment of cakes (basically L's version of heaven), butter cake, ice cream cake, cheesecake, you name it, they've got most of it.

Michael bent down to look for his soda under the countertop, took a sip and let out a sigh.

"Boring day?" Abigail asked without looking at him, focused on cleaning as she chewed on a gum.

"Yeah."

"Hmm," she blew the pink bubblegum which popped a few seconds later, "You could get another job."

"I don't think so," Michael said, placing the soda back where it was, "This place has a good pay and I'm used to it."

Abigail quit wiping the glass and leaned over the counter, giving him a deadpan stare while blowing another bubble in his face, "You're weird."

"I think it's called 'Devotion,'" the dark-hair man shot back, "You probably won't understand."

"I don't," the girl said, going around to the back of the counter and placed the cloth on the table, "I'll be back in the pantry room to make some more frosting, look after the front, would ya?"

"You don't need to tell me that."

Before she disappeared to the back door, she took off the stupid white hat that the manager makes them wear and points toward Michael, "Be good."

"Sure," he answers but she hadn't stayed long enough to hear that.

Michael sighed again and muttered, "I think you're weird too."

He thought of finishing up the job that Abigail had abandoned halfway through, picking up the piece of cloth and making his way to the front of the display case.

He was barely two minutes into cleaning when the bell dinged again, signaling the arrival of a new customer.

Michael stood up, turning towards the door, "Welcome-"

He froze.

The person who entered was a messy-haired blonde male with tanned skin and hazel colored eyes, his age around Michael's and wearing a white T-shirt with the black words 'I am' on it. He wore a pair of faded jeans and green sneakers.

The man paused in the doorway, staring at Michael like he just saw a ghost.

"W-Winton?"

The blonde took a step back like he was struck and looked like he wanted to get the hell out of there when a girl popped up next to him and latched onto his arm.

There was sharp pang in his gut when he saw that.

"Winton, why didn't you wait up?" She complained.

The girl was pretty, he noticed. She had long, chocolate brown hair and was tanned just like Winton, like they had spent the summer at the beach together. She had sea-green eyes and wet pink lips, just an inch or two shorter than her friend. She wore a white shirt, one that is thinner than Winton's and had black words that said 'You are not my bae' on it and jeans similar to his.

That's when it clicked in his mind.

'You are not my bae', 'I am'.

They're even wearing matching t-shirts.

The girl seemed to notice the situation and looked between the both of them, who still stood gaping at each other.

"What's wrong?"

Winton seemed to snapped out of it first, "Uh, it's nothing, this place looks terrible, let's go somewhere else."

The girl hugged his arm to stop him from leaving, "No, my mum loves this place, how dare you say that!"

"But-"

"Come on…" Winton was left with no options as she dragged him over to the display case, she turned to Michael, "Hey, can I see all the chocolate cakes you have? I'm getting one for a birthday."

Michael just manages to get a smile on his face, "Yes, of course."

In that whole time, Winton was staring at him with an almost terrified look on his face, while his girlfriend didn't seem to notice anything as she looked at the cakes they have on offer.

It was over in a mere ten minutes, where Winton's girlfriend placed the order and the date of collection for the cake and they begin to leave, the girl leading the way.

As they walked past, Michael uttered, "Hey, Winton-"

"No," he snapped, keeping his words quick and soft so she wouldn't pick that up, "We have nothing more to talk about, it's over!"

Michael shut his mouth as he recalled what was said to him.

_"_ _Do not call me, do not text me and especially, do not stalk me anymore you demented freak!"_

"Okay," he muttered.

"Is everything okay babe?" The girl turned back, seeing her boyfriend set a harsh glare on the store employee.

"Everything's fine," he said, turning to her and smiled, "Let's go, Em."

Michael watched him leave and felt his heart shattering all over again. He turned to the counter and smashed his fist into it repeatedly as he growled as he went through the scene of Winton and his girlfriend all over again.

"What the hell is going on?" Abigail demanded, rushing out of the backroom with pink frosting smeared across her face.

Michael stopped, still glaring at the white surface.

"Nothing," he said, gritting his teeth, "Nothing is going on."

Abigail stared at him, wiped the frosting off her cheek and licking it off her fingers.

"Freak," she tossed it at him as she returned into the kitchen.

Michael cursed fate for making him go through that whole thing earlier, as if the heartbreak and pain of separation from his ex is not enough.

He shook his head, "No, it's over, it's over."

The man wiped at his eyes where tears had begun to pool up, muttering to himself, "It's over, that asshole doesn't want you anymore."

A smile spread across his face as he chuckled, chanting in a crooning voice, "It's over, over. We have nothing more to do with each other. Nothing. I don't love him, he doesn't love me."

Michael made his way through the backroom, ignoring the protests of his colleague. He walked past the kitchen and through another door, into the employee's room where they'd left their belongings.

"Only one person, one person left."

He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a t-shirt a size too small for him, sniffing at it once. Michael smiled, satisfied when the scent is still lingering and buried his face in it, chuckling.

"Luke… Luke. My Luke."

He laughed, caressing the shirt and smiled fondly at it.

"He's the only one."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Uh… I have no comment.
> 
> Actually, just one, I didn't plan for Michael to come out as weird (weird being a nicer word than what I want to say XD) so soon but here ya go XD. And another thing, I do have the shirt and the words actually goes like this "Not your bae". I liked the shirt, not so much for the last word though.
> 
> Edit: I knew something went wrong, replaced 'I am not your bae' with 'You are not my bae' and how the heck did I make that mistake LOL


	16. Just Friends

Lucian laid across his bed in his t-shirt and jeans, idly staring at the ceiling. The boy had spent most of his day in his room, just hanging around, staring at the bunch of messages he didn't reply and trying to find a way around the fact that he actually likes Levi in ways other than just being friends.

The thought had hit him just yesterday, yet he couldn't find a way to wrap his mind around it or how it had happened and he still haven't recovered from the discovery.

Lucian was trying to recall how it all started, whether it was because the bastard was attractive or really smart or was it because of his voice, or the way he liked to tease him or the way he'd always looked out for him even when he said 'no'. Whether because he always listened whenever he was in a mood, or because he always stuck around no matter what happened.

Or all of the above.

The boy flipped over and buried his face in the pillow in mortification.

God, he barely even noticed how he felt when he was with the guy, all happy and bubbly and shit and that's just really  _weird_.

_'_ _I'm acting like a lovestruck girl, god, kill me.'_

He didn't even notice how annoyed he was when Levi's 'fan club' kept hanging around them and staring at his friend, passing comments to one another. He thought he was just irritated and missed the moment when he was thinking that he wished they would just leave them alone so he could spend more time with the other.

He didn't even realize he was drifting further away from his two friends, not because he became a third-wheel but because he started to seek them out less and had rather go find Levi. Lucian had preferred him more too.

Still, he wasn't sure when it all started but he sincerely hoped that it wasn't right from the beginning, that would be absurd, as if he'd fallen in love at first sight or something.

And not to mention that this is completely gay as hell.

He's a guy and Levi's a guy and this is so not happening.

If this ever gets out, it'll be the return of the torture in the first few years again. He totally didn't want to follow his brother's path, even if it wasn't clear what had happened, he at least knew that he had ended up breaking up with the guy and dropped out of school altogether.

If Levi doesn't even like him, then that'll be the end of it, he probably can't look the other in the boy anymore. Or worse, Levi would avoid him, basically him knowing would ruin everything.

_'_ _I can't let him know…'_

Just as Lucian is contemplating all this, his phone gave a sudden buzz, startling him so much that he jumped.

 

_I'm coming over_

_-Levi_

 

"Crap…" Lucian fumbled about what he should reply to get him  _not_  to come over.

As he was coming up with some half-assed excuse that sounded somewhat reasonable, he heard knocking from the front door.

"Lucian?" Levi's shout came through his window. The boy was so shocked that he froze, his fingers hovering over the keys.

Levi knocked the door again, "Lucian, are you in?"

Lucian kept silent, slowly putting his phone down and trying to pretend that he's not here.

"Your window's open and your fan's on, Lucian," Levi said, dashing his hopes of appearing to be anywhere but in his room, "Could you come down, I'd like to talk."

The blonde decided to give up his pretense and go meet him but as he reached for the door latch, he hesitated, trying to remember how to act before he had the realization about his affections.

He must've thought for too long because Levi started knocking on the door again, "Lucian, I think I figured it out-"

Lucian felt as if his brain short-circuited for a moment,  _'Figure out about what?!'_

"-why you're avoiding me."

The boy felt his heart leap into his throat, feeling a little dizzy at the prospect that Levi have found out about his- uh, his feelings.

"I'm sorry," Levi said, flooring him yet again.

_'_ _Sorry about what?'_

He couldn't wrap his mind around it, why would Levi feel sorry for that? It doesn't make any sense, it's his problem, unless… he's planning to reject his feelings? But, what if he wasn't talking about that?

While the boy was being bogged down by his thoughts, Levi called again, "I understand that you might be a bit mad about how I keep leaving you alone these days but if you could come down, I'll explain everything to you."

_'_ _HUH?'_

Lucian was trying to process what he heard from the other boy to form a coherent thought but he found that he couldn't, he found himself more confused than before.

"Lucian?"

* * *

While Levi was standing at the front door, calling for his friend that he doubted would be willing to open the door and let him in by the end of the day. He'd rushed over after dealing with the issue that Wallace had him look at and it was near sunset by the time he had reached.

But there's no way he'll give up and go home that easily, he at least have to clarify things with his friend by today.

"Lucian!" He shouted again, knocking on the door.

"Luke… Luke, Luke…" A soft whispering drifted towards him, it sounded a little creepy but the teen was too wrapped up in the worry for Lucian that he barely noticed. Levi turned curiously and found a tall, dimly lit figure shuffling towards him.

"Michael?" He realized, noting the shaggy black hair and familiar frame of the man. He looked haggard, his brown eyes unfocused and his back hunched over.

Levi tried to ignore his resemblance to the imaginary things called demons and asked, "What happened to you?"

Lucian's brother stopped walking and set his eyes on the teen like he noticed the other male for the first time. "You?" Levi ignored the tone in his voice that sounded a little drained and deranged, "What're you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Lucian," Levi answered, caution entering his voice, "Are you alright?"

"Luke…" Michael's eyes turned dull again, "You're looking for Luke,  _my_ Luke?"

Alarm bells went off in his mind. The longer he studied Michael, the more off he seems. Levi decided to make a tactical retreat for now and mentioned, "Maybe I'll come by another time, I'll see you-"

"Luke doesn't want to see you."

"Pardon?"

"You were here for a while right? He was home the whole day," Michael muttered and it looked as though his exhaustion is draining away with every word, "Luke doesn't want to see you."

"I suppose," Levi admitted sullenly, shoving his hands into his pockets, "But I just wanted to talk-"

The other male shot forward so fast that it caught him off-guard. Levi was slammed into the door as Michael screamed in his face, "But he doesn't want to see you,  _don't you get it_?!"

Startled, the young detective's instincts pushed him to drive an elbow into Michael's chest, one that shoved the other back and caused Levi to stare at him wide-eyed.

His apology was cut off as Michael yelled in rage and attacked him.

* * *

A deafening 'bump' against the door caused Lucian to jump. He was trying to listen in to the muffled voices of Levi and his brother, hardly able to make out the words before chaos ensued.

Then the yelling began and that was what propelled the fourteen-year-old to speed down the stairs and to the front door. He flung it open and gaped at the sight – his enraged older brother beating his best friend/crush up, who looked like he was trying to defend himself against the larger male.

"Stop it!" Lucian yelled, rushing towards them as Michael drove a fist into Levi's face, prompting the other who ended up on the ground to shove a foot into his chest.

Michael was about to charge at him for revenge when Lucian wrapped his arms about him, pulling him back with all of his strength as he screamed, "I said, STOP IT!"

His brother stiffened, "L-Luke?"

It sounded like Michael was finally able to see reason, so Lucian loosened his grip and shoved him away, "What the hell are you  _doing_?!"

His brother took a look at Levi who, at the same time, struggled to his feet and nursed the bruise on his cheek.

"I, um," he looked stunned, then his expression took on that of anger, "He's bothering you so I was getting him to piss off."

Lucian glared at him, "What the fuck made you think that? Did I ever say he was bothering me?"

"Then why were you avoiding him?" Michael glowered, "I could hear his shouting a block away!"

"That does not permit you to hit him!" Lucian bellowed.

Michael stared at him, looking almost hurt but rage was blinding him to everything that his brother could throw at him.

"Fuck you, Michael," he growled, going towards Levi who stood in the same spot in silence.

His older brother started towards him, "Luke-"

"Don't. Talk. To me," Lucian snapped.

Michael froze, staring in silence as his brother dragged the dark-haired boy away. "I think I'll see you home," he said.

And they left.

Michael clenched his feet as he stared at their retreating figures.

"I'll remember this."

* * *

"Are you okay?"

Levi turned to the other boy, feeling his left cheek throbbing mercilessly and his head, back and stomach aching from impacts from the ground and Michael's fist. He saw the distinct worry in Lucian's eyes and muttered, "I'm fine."

Lucian glared at him, "Now if you would stop being a lying piece of ass-"

"Fine, it hurts," Levi admitted, "But that's the last thing on my mind right now."

He pulled the other to face him, ignoring the sharp gasp Lucian emitted and demanded, "I would like you to tell me what the hell was that all for?"

"What?"

"Now who's the liar?" Levi grumbled, "I admit that I wasn't mad about that, well, not before your onii-san decided to beat the crap out of me."

"What's onii-san?" Lucian blurted.

"'Older brother' in Japanese," Levi answered blandly, "Since your last name is 'Yanagi' and all. However, do not attempt to change the topic: why were you avoiding me?"

"You said you figured it out," Lucian mentioned, tried not to sound timid and succeeded.

Levi rubbed his sore cheek gently, "I think I did and I'm sorry about that."

"About what?"

The older teen shot him a look that spelled out, 'You really had to make me say it, don't you?'

"Leaving you alone," he answered.

"Huh?" Lucian stopped in his tracks.

The dark-haired boy turned to look at him, "That wasn't it?"

Lucian blinked once and uttered, "Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's it. I just didn't think you're that concerned about it."

"Well, you're the most important person to me after all…"

Lucian unwittingly felt his heart soar until Levi completed his sentence, "…as my first ever friend."

His heart plummeted.

"Thanks," he smiled.

"You're frank," Levi observed, narrowing his eyes.

"You mean I can't be?" Lucian said in mock annoyance.

"I suppose you could, but…"

Lucian hid the rising panic in him and uttered, "But what?"

Levi scrutinized him for a long moment, before tearing his gaze away, suddenly squatted down while he hissed, "But my head really hurts so I suppose I should've called Wallace before walking all this way."

"What?" Lucian blurted, panicking while he hovered over his friend, "Levi!"

While Lucian got him to sit on the sidewalk, found his phone and called Wallace to come pick them up, the teen grabbed his shirt out of the blue and muttered, "Hey, you'll tag along, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"Great, we'll be able to talk about it, then," Levi sighed, "For now, I'll say that I won't leave you all by yourself, from uh… from now on."

Lucian stared at him, stunned, while he continued as he shook a hand at him, "I promise… I'm not just saying it."

The boy glared at him, "You're delirious, just shut the hell up before it gets worse, Wallace's coming."

Levi chuckled, lowering his arm as he murmured in a weird tune, " _Your love is showing~_ "

"What the fuck!"

The teen chucked some more, reassuring Lucian that he's just not right in his brain from his head injury, which, actually is slightly worrying (very worrying).

Somehow, Lucian couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as well.

_'_ _We'll just stay friends,'_  he thought.  _'That's for the best.'_


	17. Keep it in Check

Lucian sat in an armchair in the corner of Levi's room, flipping through some dark fantasy novel from the lack of anything else to do. It wasn't a genre he would usually pick but the teen had pretty much devoured the contents of every psychological, mystery and detective novels in the house, not counting all the non-fiction books on the various subjects that were of interest to him.

He thought about it once and was confounded by the fact that Levi has an extensive amount of reading material and somehow, he'd already absorbed more than half of his book supply in a single year.

Then he wondered why an eighteen-year-old like Levi felt a need to stock up on all of these. Part of him had been skeptical that he had really finished all of them, so he tested his knowledge of the books by reciting a random line and asking for the next.

Levi answered them all correctly and Lucian concluded that he's indeed an alien of the teenage world, or, well, the human world.

He's an alien as well, if he seriously thought about it, just slightly lacking compared to the other boy.

Lucian tore his eyes from the mildly interesting book – something about crows, a band of thieves and vengeance – and set his eyes upon the bed.

Levi laid curled up in it, the thick blanket bunched up by his stomach as he dozed. One of his foot kicked free of the covers, distinct against the dark gray of his disheveled nest. Lucian had pulled the covers over his feet a couple of times for fear that he might be chilly but he always stubbornly kicked it away at some point.

Lucian sighed, rubbing his eyes and blinking at the frame of light around the dark curtains.

The sun had come up for a couple hours now and the teen couldn't help but remember that it had been a long night.

* * *

When Wallace had arrived, he bore witness to the worrying state Levi was in, as well as listening to Lucian's side of the story. He drove them to a clinic for a checkup, which was unsurprisingly closed. Lucian had suggested that they take him to the hospital when the older man led them to the back of the building. They waited a bit until another car rolled in, revealing the driver to be a male about the same age as Wallace, dressed in a casual shirt and jeans who greeted them and opened the door to let them in.

He later learnt that it was the doctor and caught a glimpse of the influence Levi's family has.

He waited while the doctor looked Levi over and was reminded of the first time they officially met.

The doctor said that 'it was nothing more than a mild concussion' and sent him home with plenty of advice to rest and treat his bruises. Lucian was slightly amused if not a bit worried to find that Levi had reacted to the doctor the same way to Mrs. Keener.

The doctor stared at him for a moment, a gleam of annoyance manifesting in his eyes before he turned to Wallace and continued to rattle off instructions.

He found it endearing when Levi started to hurl sharp, intellectual retorts at him, those that the overzealous doctor found no argument against and that made him turn red in the face.

Thankfully for the doctor, Wallace put a stop to it and brought both of them back. He'd asked whether Lucian had wanted to go home.

He liked Wallace, the man didn't treat him like a child like most adults do and let him make his own choices.

* * *

So here he is, sitting in Levi's room after a night of restless sleep.

Lucian had wondered whether he should come in initially. He'd stood at the door for a long time like an indecisive idiot before Wallace came upon on his way to check up on his ward. He told him it's fine to go in and so he did.

Then he wondered whether it's creepy to just simply wait so he chose a book that he hadn't touch.

Besides, what's so wrong about being worried for a friend that he'd to sit here waiting like a- someone close.

Well, he was someone close to Levi, that much he'd seen.

There was rustling as Levi shifted and Lucian's eyes flickered back to the book in his hands.

He heard a soft groan. Lucian witnessed the older teen sat up on his bed, he took it as a cue to put away his book and approach the other.

Lucian couldn't help but be amazed yet again that Levi's hair could be messier than usual, the tresses sticking in every direction rather than the organized chaos that they always seemed to possess. Simply speaking, his hair looked like a porcupine.

The boy reined in his amusement and asked, "Are you feeling okay?"

Levi cast a glance at him and wasn't amused to find that the straight face that Lucian struggled to put on is slipping fast. He ran his hand through his hair a couple of times until it thankfully no longer resembles a sea urchin.

"Better," he muttered, looking at the clock. Lucian caught a pause, an invisible indication of surprise, before he casually continued his task of taming his hair.

"Wallace made breakfast," he informed.

That was unnecessary as Levi nodded, "Pancakes."

The older teen glanced up at him, "Have you eaten?"

Lucian unwittingly stuttered, now that the amusement had dissipated he couldn't help but be marveled by the impressive pools of darkness which are Levi's eyes that are boring right into his own. Again, his blood was flushing all over with nervousness from the attraction that he'd recently discovered.

"Lucian?"

"No." He wanted to kill himself when his voice came out as a flustered squeak.

Levi stared at him, "Are you alright?"

"I think you should be more worried about yourself!"

Lucian cringed internally, that came out too quickly.

Levi blinked, probably thought his brain was misinterpreting it and said, "We should get going, better not keep the pancakes waiting for too long."

"Yeah, haha, yay for the pancakes."

That fell completely flat.

"Did you perhaps," Levi pondered with difficulty, "Didn't have enough sleep?"

"Yeah."

"You need sleep."

"Thanks for the tip," Lucian muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Hm, better."

Lucian stuck a tongue out at him.

He ignored the warmth glow spreading through his chest when Levi let out a chuckle.

"Stop laughing, you impertinent prat!"

Levi burst out laughing and he had to try hard not to break into a smile himself.

"That is the least British sounding insult I have ever heard," he sniggered, "Perhaps stick to your own native slangs?"

Lucian shoved him into the bed and grabbed his pillow, intending to whack the laughter out of him. Levi grinned as he caught it and they both wrestled, struggling with the pillow and their amusement. Lucian unexpected tugged at it, freeing the pillow from Levi's grasps and started smacking the hell out of his face while he laughed like a psychotic maniac. The older teen grunted, finding it difficult to keep a grin off his face as he defended it. One of his hands groped about and found the other pillow, managing to slap Lucian's face with it.

They tossed blows at each other and Levi managed to pinned Lucian to the bed with his weight, while the other shouted in indignation.

They panted and Lucian slowly came to the terrifying realization that his crush is lying right on top of him. He could feel his breath fanning his neck, the warmth of his chest on his back and Levi's legs wrapped around his to stop his movement.

His breath stopped.

He barely heard it when Levi snorted, "You're lively for someone who hadn't slept well."

"You seem well for someone who've been clobbered to hell just yesterday," he shot back.

"Brat."

He was relieved when Levi released him, the other oblivious to his inner turmoil as he yawned. Lucian followed, trying to behave as normal as he could.

That didn't fly when Levi, the all-knowing alien noticed something off yet again.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No," Lucian said nonchalantly, "Why?"

"You look like a psychopath."

"What!" Lucian started for the pillow, while Levi grabbed the other, ready for an attack, "What the hell do you mean?"

Levi gave him a good, long stare served to unnerve him and grinned, "You know, because psychopaths try to look normal."

Lucian blanched as he continued, "Too normal."

His grip on the pillow tightened as Levi questioned, "Are you hiding something from me?"

"Why would I hide something from you?"

Levi raised an eyebrow, because that was a stupid argument, he hid things all the time.

A smile curved across his lips as he taunted, "Is someone embarrassed?"

Lucian stared at him, his insides churning with anxiety, "Embarrassed about what?"

Levi drew close to him, causing his heart rate to spike because this is way too close, too close in proximity and too close to discovery. He could feel Levi's breath tickling his neck as he whispered, "The fact that you're  _in love with me_?"

Everything came to a stand still.

That is, until he heard chuckling by his shoulder.

Lucian gave the other an incredulous stare as Levi pulled away, sounding like he was going to die.

"I'm sorry, that was way too perfect."

The boy finally caught on, rage filled his vision as he shouted, "You bastard!"

Levi was way too busy laughing to defend himself against the onslaught of deadly blows, he could only wheeze out broken pleads for him to stop.

"You. Stupid. Stupid. Idiot!" Lucian growled, each word punctuated by a pillow smack.

"No-  _hahaha_!"

Just when he thought he was running out of breath, there was the noise of someone clearing their throat at the door.

They turned and found Wallace in the doorway, "Boys, do you mind coming down for breakfast before continuing with this, hum, foolish game?"

"Be right down," Levi said, rising from the bed while the other stew in the beginnings of shame.

Wallace gave him a look before turning to leave, "Come on, then."

While Lucian was distracted, Levi grabbed a pillow and threw it at the boy, nailing him right in his face.

Before he could react, Levi had already ran past him and out the room, a chuckle breezing past him.

Part of Lucian felt compelled to chase after him for revenge while the other part was apprehensive, afraid that his actions or the lack thereof might give him away. He paused, steeled himself, checking over once for abnormalities before hurrying out of the room.

He can't let Levi know. So, it must work.


	18. His Dilemma

Their breakfast was taken in solemn silence.

Levi sat observing the other boy for half the time, chewing on the pancakes that Wallace made. It was drenched in honey and berries, just the way he likes it. Lucian had a slightly different version, pancakes with less honey and a couple slabs of butter. Alongside the pancakes are some eggs and sausages, as Wallace typically like to prepare.

The older teen wasn't as entirely clueless as he appeared to be.

Right after they have left the room, he'd notice Lucian's sudden change in mood, much like a cloud of gray had proceeded to hang over his form. He made no mention of it when his laughs and jokes seemed too forced. Well, too forced to people with the kind of scrutiny that Levi possesses.

He felt the moments go away when Lucian was lost in the moment and behaved as he did usually. He noticed the boy leaning in closer, smiled a little brighter and shot looks at his 'fan club' that was tinged with animosity.

He'd seen it all and yet he kept pretending.

It wasn't quite as easy as it sounded.

"Lucian."

The boy jumped, "What?"

"Could you pass me the sugar?"

Lucian wrinkled his nose, "Didn't you have enough?"

"It's for the tea."

"Oh," he ducked his head and quickly did as he was requested, "Here you go."

Their fingers brushed each other when he took it. He watched as Lucian went rigid and shrunk into his seat, desperately focused on his food. Levi slowly retracted his hand, ignoring the thought that almost tempted him to capture Lucian's hand when he touched it.

He poured some sugar into his tea and sipped it in silence.

A relationship, it is too trivial of a thing for him to even consider. That was before, where human relations is just a tool for him to gather information for his work. With Lucian, if he is willing, he could imagine something resembling one in the future. The boy is a person who's committed to the things he believe in and he wasn't as dumb and ditzy as most of the girls who saw it fit to throw themselves at him just for a fleeting moment of recognition. However, he is young and Levi can't bring himself to drag him into the dangerous world that he lives in.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he can't involve Lucian in this ever, it does not matter whether he is young or old.

There are way too many risks in his line of work, which pretty much encompasses his entire life. Looking back on the previous Ls who all passed away below the age of 30, the prospects don't look good for him. If any criminal is able to find out who L actually is, he'll be in big trouble and drag everyone he knows down with him.

That comes only from the fact that he is L.

On a more personal note, as close as he is to Lucian and as infatuated as he might be, he can't find it in himself to trust the boy.

It wasn't as if Lucian wasn't trustworthy. In fact, he had never broken his promises and had always lived up to his own expectations, he was blunt but he was honest and Levi had never caught him out on a bad lie because he never said any of those, other than the minor ones formed to protect with his pride.

Yet there's this deep-seated feeling in him that told him to never trust the boy and to never allow his life to fall into his hands. As much as he wanted to trust Lucian, he can't and he didn't feel good about it because he's the only one who never told any of his secrets.

It was worse when the boy trusts him wholeheartedly.

Levi was startled out of it when his teeth met nothing but the metallic tang of his fork. He looked down and noticed that all his food is gone. He set it down and looked across at the other who was too busy in his own thoughts to notice anything else.

"Lucian."

The boy jumped again, less prominently this time.

He spun to face Levi with an annoyed look, "What?"

"I was thinking it is perhaps time for you to go home," he said, "I'm fine now."

"Oh… right."

Levi tilted his head, "Do you want to stay?"

"No!" He bursts out, then fumbled, "I mean, I'd rather not go home right now."

"Because of what happened with Michael?"

"I've never shouted at him like that before," Lucian said, "We've never fought, but then he'd never decided to go around beating up my friends."

Levi drank his tea, "I'm not especially fond of him right now but you two should probably talk it out."

"Uh…"

"He could be in a bad mood," Levi reasoned, "That, again, doesn't make me fond of him in the slightest."

Lucian fiddled with the napkin, "I could talk to him…"

"I gather that you're ready to go home?"

"Yeah…"

Lucian remained in his seat and looked like he was contemplating about something to the inexperienced eye.

He knew better but feigned ignorance as he asked, "Is there something wrong?"

The boy snapped out of it and muttered, "Nothing."

Levi gave him a long look, pretended to be unable to detect his nervous gestures and said, "Sleep more, it's better for your health."

Lucian rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah."

The older teen shot him a half-smile, "Let's go."

Levi went to call Wallace and they both left the apartment together.

* * *

At about the same time, Andrina had stormed out of the coffee shop that Lucian and Levi had visited roughly a year ago. It was an hour before noon and the café looked as if it were mobbed, people spilled out with takeaways, displaced by the equally monstrous crowd that struggled in with the line.

The blonde woman was ruffled, her pale hair framed her face in a complete disarray, the sleeves of her cream colored blouse rumpled and her skirt a little more hiked up than it was appropriate. Her pale features were twisted into a frown as she rushed away from the throng of caffeine seekers. Some of the men peeked over at her, their eyes glued to the smoothness of her exposed skin and her pair of long legs.

"Andrina!" A tall, dark-haired man emerged from the mass, his white shirt crooked from squeezing through the annoyed bunch of people. He wore a pair of gray trousers, the pants fitted exactly to his build. A brown and gold Rolex watch gleamed on his wrist, attracting envious eyes.

She ignored him and walked even faster.

"Andrina!" He jogged up to her, grabbed her wrist and spun her around, "Babe, what's the matter?"

Her blue eyes seemed to flash in that moment, "What's the matter? You want to know what's the matter, Edvard?"

"Baby, please…"

"Don't plead with me!" She snapped, uncaring of all the eyes that were on them, "You don't get to plead with me when you're checking out some other minx!"

Edvard shifted nervously, his grip firm. He had a mind to pull Andrina away into a more private place but she wasn't having any of it, as she broke free of his grasps and sneered.

"I'm leaving."

"Baby, no," he latched onto her again, "I wasn't looking at any girl, I only have eyes for you, my love."

Andrina set one of the evilest glare mankind had ever seen on Edvard and snarled, "I saw you fawning all over her when you thought I wasn't looking!"

She once again shook her hand free and stabbed a damning finger at his face, "Do you think I'm a stupid bitch? Just because the store is crowded as hell you thought you would be able to get away with not being seen when I was just right. Behind. You!"

Edvard went mute as she continued, "And you planted your god damn ass in the chair and starting flirting with her and whatnot. Don't make any excuses, I've seen all of your looks when you do that kind of shit. How many bitches have you kept from me you man whore?"

The pressure of the crowd's gaze grew on him. Edvard's eyes settled on her in the beginnings of a glare as he responded, "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, damned slut."

_SLAP!_

The sound rang in his ear as the imprint of a hand began to flare on his face. A hush fell upon the spectators as Andrina glowered at him, her right hand stung as it hung in the air.

Edvard slowly turned towards her, his eyes telling of a murderous rage.

"You bitch…" he growled, poised to attack the woman when some more people in the crowd pulled out their cellphones, joining those that had already been out to film the epic drama.

The man paused, lowering his fist before he make one of the biggest mistakes in his life.

"Don't ever call me again," Andrina snapped, turned and stormed away without a single word.

"Fine!" Edvard yelled and went in the other direction where his car is parked.

Andrina took the bus home, shaken by the earlier fight. She kept her face hidden away from the public eye, thought about all her relationships and silently wept.

* * *

"You don't need to do this, you know."

Lucian turned to face Levi who walked right by his side, his hands shoved deep into his jean pockets as he walked at a certain slouch and a bored look on his face.

'Damn, he's attractive.'

The boy mentally shook the thought out of his head as Levi replied, "You stayed by since last evening to see whether I was alright, this is the least I could do."

'I'm hopeless,' Lucian almost groaned as the words set a flutter off in his heart.

"I guess it's fine since Michael won't be in today," he said, kicking a pebble in his path.

Levi's eyes followed the pebble, "That's great to hear."

Lucian chuckled, "That bad, huh?"

"Yes, very."

They made it to the front yard of his house, where Lucian turned to the older teen, "I'll see you in school tomorrow?"

"Of course."

A solemn look flitted past Lucian's face. Curious, Levi asked, "What is it?"

"I'm just thinking," the blonde looked away, "I won't be able to say that to you anymore the next year, or ever."

Levi stood, studying the other as Lucian toyed with the sleeve of his shirt.

The boy huffed, "I think this is the part you'll say that I should make more friends."

"I won't go far."

Lucian turned to look at him quizzically.

"I could always apply at a university nearby," Levi shrugged, "Or I won't, because I have no need to."

The older teen looked straight at him as he said, "I'll still be around."

"Y-yeah, sure." Lucian uttered and laughed softly, "God, I'm such an idiot."

Levi unwittingly nibbled on his thumb as he said, "You're no idiot, you're one of the most brilliant person I've met in my life."

"How many brilliant people have you met in your life?"

Levi shrugged, "A couple."

Lucian eyed him carefully, "You've never mentioned what you do."

Levi started, a slight shift in his foot was detected, that was all. He hadn't expect the question to come, the first time Lucian had asked him of his own accord. The teen was conflicted, he trusted the boy yet he did not. He wanted to at least tell him but he could not. Levi stared at him hard, his heart cried out for an answer.

The intense gaze must've unnerved him, as Lucian suddenly turned away and uttered, "You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

That stumbled Levi, he snapped out of it and blurted, "No, I-"

None of them were expecting it when the door slammed open, revealing Andrina in the doorway who still looked as unkempt as the moment she'd left for home.

"Oh," she slowly looked between the two of them, the skin around her eyes unnaturally dry and red, "I was wondering where the voices are coming from."

Lucian was too spooked by her appearance to respond while Levi cast a glance at her and said, "I shall be leaving."

"Why not stay for a few drinks?" Andrina offered lifelessly, "I would like some company."

Levi turned to the boy, noted his puzzled look and deduced that this is not a normal occurrence.

"It won't take too long," she coaxed.

Lucian looked positively floored at the moment and Levi was intrigued.

"Of course," he answered, as he had time to spare.

Lucian shot him a horrified look, he shrugged.

"Come in."

Levi braced himself for whatever horrors Lucian's family might be able to cook up and entered the house without a word.


	19. Not the Same Person

Lucian sat, dumbfounded as the most unlikely scene in the world is unfolding right in front of him.

They were sitting on the living room couches, Lucian alone on one while Levi and Andrina shared the other, the blonde woman lying across the sofa in a thin night dress, such that Levi had just enough room to sit by her feet. There were a couple of empty beer cans on the coffee table, crushed and turned on their sides. More unopened cans sat on the table in an orderly manner, coated with a thin veil of water droplets. His mother reached for one, cracked it open with a long nail and handed it to his friend.

"Here," she offered almost kindly, her head tilted to the side.

"I'll have to decline," Levi said instead, "I don't drink."

The smile melted off her face as she stared. Lucian braced himself for the sudden mood change and was thrown off when she chuckled.

"How old are you, boy?"

"Eighteen, Ma'am," Levi bristled slightly at the term, caught by no one but Lucian.

"You are an upright little child aren't you?" She laughed again and thrusts the can in his direction, "Go on, take a sip, it won't hurt anyone. Youngsters ought to break the rules now and then."

Levi stared at the beer in her hand, his eyes flickered up to her, "You won't offer your children things like that, would you?"

At that, Andrina cast a glance across at her son, who flinched visibly.

She retracted her hand with a pout, "Fine, little spoilsport."

Andrina took a sip and sighed, "And who was it that said they would drink with me?"

"I didn't state that exactly," Levi said and pretended to look about the living room, "I only came because you asked for company."

She laughed, "Now, is it fun to simply sit there and watch me drink?"

Andrina gulped down the rest of her beer and threw the can onto the table with an loud 'clang'. It bounced off the pile of empty cans and rolled under the couch.

She peered down and gave up a second later, opening a new can, "Kids have strange hobbies."

"At least we don't do something as detrimental to our health like excessive drinking," Levi mentioned.

Andrina glared at him and threw her beer at him. Lucian yelped as the pale yellow drink flew everywhere, onto him, the couches, Levi and the floor.

The older teen barely flinched as she screamed, "You little shit! Do you think I love drinking this shit!? It tastes fucking awful!"

She swept away the other cans on the table and they all clattered to the ground, rolling away in various directions, "You fucks don't understand anything! You think I wanted to become like this? You think it was all my fault, don't you?! That I'm a selfish, ignorant, loose woman who would sleep with any man as long as he's handsome or rich!"

Andrina jabbed a finger in Levi's face, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHO MADE ME LIKE THIS!"

She glanced at Lucian, who paled even more than when she had an outburst.

"What exactly happened?"

The blond woman turned to cast a dark glare at his face, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Levi wiped his face with the sleeve of his sweater and said, "As a matter of fact, I do."

It strangely quelled the woman, who sat back in the couch. She turned to stare at Lucian and with a stormy look said, "It was all his fault."

Lucian flinched, just before Levi shifted to block him from her line of vision, "Whose fault?"

"Him," she almost growled and the tension rose once again.

"Who, exactly?"

"Shouhei."

Lucian was surprised, he had expected to hear his own name.

"And what did he do?"

Andrina gave him a solemn look and reached for another can of beer.

* * *

"Mom, I want ice cream!" A six year-old Michael cried as he gaped at the other children running towards it.

"Just a second, honey," Andrina muttered, rummaging in her bag. Here, she is young, with pale, flawless skin and a full head of platinum blond hair that flows gracefully about her shoulders. There was a sort of youthful, innocent glow about her. She wore a thick, white shirt under her light pink blouse jacket and a pair of loose, blue jeans. She wore no makeup or jewelry, save for a gold wedding ring on her finger.

"But Mom!"

"Honey, please," she sounded mildly frustrated, pulling out everything she had in her handbag.

She jumped when a gentle, mellow voice called out to her, "Miss?"

Andrina whipped around and caught sight of a tall, handsome young man. He had smooth, light brown hair that turns gold wherever the sunlight touches it. He had a pair of warm brown eyes, slightly tanned skin, an angular nose and an amused smirk caught on his lips. The man has a slender build, wearing a beige sweater over a white dress shirt, a pair of black dress pants and white sneakers.

He had a smooth hand with long, slender fingers extended towards her, it held a black wallet.

"I believe this is yours," he said again in his smooth, pleasant tone.

"Ah, yes, it is," Andrina said awkwardly, "How did you know that it's mine?"

"Your card is in it," he said, once again, an amused smirk playing across his lips.

"Yes," she chuckled, embarrassed, "Of course. Thank you very much, Mister?"

"Shouhei," he said, "Shouhei Yanagi."

"Mom!" Little Michael whined, tugging on her jacket. "The ice cream truck is leaving!"

"Oh no," Andrina started to stand up.

"I'll get it for you," Shouhei said, a kind winkle in his eyes. He turned to the boy, "What flavor do you want?"

"There's no need-"

"Strawberry!" He screamed.

"Right on it," Shouhei ruffled his hair and sped off towards the truck before she could say anything else.

The man returned with a triple scoop of strawberry ice cream, packed tightly into a cone.

Michael cheered and happily gobbled up the treat.

He laughed, "Slow down if you don't want to get a brain freeze."

"Urm, how much was that ice cream?" Andrina looked upon him nervously, "I would like to return the money."

Shouhei smiled at her, "It's okay, Mrs. Roberts. It's on me."

"Please," she said politely, "I'd hate to impose on you."

He seemed to think about it for a moment, "How about this? As repayment for the ice cream, stay and chat with me for a bit."

"I, um," the young woman seemed anxious, "I suppose that's alright?"

The man laughed, "How did that turn into a question? You really are an interesting lady."

She blushed.

* * *

"That was how he got me hooked," Andrina grumbled, tossing another beer aside, "That awfully charming man."

"After that, he asked me for my number and the innocent, gullible me just gave it to him. He would accompany me whenever I take Michael out, everywhere and I didn't think much of it, I'm just happy for the extra pair of hands. He would do favors for me, buy me things that I don't really need, a mirror, perfume, a pair of shoes that I looked at for a few moments in a store display. Soon, he started coming into our house, helping me to clean up and take care of Michael. I became dependent on him," She sighed and opened another drink.

"It was easy for him to wriggle his way into my life, my husband was barely home, spending almost all his day at work and I had no one but him." Andrina flashed a self-deprecating smile, "He was so charming and so god damned patient. Before I knew it, he made me fall for him, fulfilling me the ways that my husband can't, poisoning my mind and body, bit by bit."

She began to crush the can in her hand, "Spouting his damned lies."

Andrina laughed bitterly, "And I was so quick to fall for all of them. Everything was so bright and wonderful, until it happened."

As she said that, her dark eyes flickered to Lucian's direction.

He stiffened.

An eerie smile curved on her lips, "He said that he would stay with me forever, no matter what happens."

With a tone directed to hurt Lucian, she asked, "Where is he now?"

Lucian gave her a startled look, which was quickly overcome by despair. He left the room promptly, before they could say anything else.

"Stop that," Levi said angrily.

Andrina glared at him, "Stop what?"

"It's not his fault."

She growled, "It was his fault that my life is thrown into this shit, if he wasn't born, our family would still be intact!"

"Wouldn't you still be with Shouhei?" Levi reasoned, "And even if Lucian wasn't in the picture, wouldn't your husband find out in due time? Wouldn't he leave you because of your affair with Shouhei anyway?"

"That's…" She went silent.

"What you're doing now is making yourself out to be the victim, Ma'am," Levi continued, "In fact, you're also at fault."

"What are you talking about?"

"For blaming someone who has done nothing wrong."

She glared at him.

"Ma'am, you've been neglecting your son for the past fifteen years," Levi said, "Your family does not only consist of your husband and Michael. Lucian is part of it too."

"He was-" she started to argue.

"He was innocent!" Levi glowered, "And you've failed as a mother by blaming your son who literally did  _nothing_!"

Andrina gasped.

Levi stared at her pointedly as she leaned back, defeated, "I-I can't do it, I can't love him. Not like this."

"He is your son."

Andrina shook her head and sobbed into her hand, "He looks too much like him."

"But he is not his father." Levi began to look sympathetic, "Lucian loves you, can't you see it?"

"I-I suppose I could," she muttered, wiping at her eyes, "I'm sorry, I need time to think about this."

Andrina reached for an unopened beer on the floor. Levi shot forward and snatched it before she could grab hold of it, "I thought it would make more sense that you think about it without being drunk."

"Idiot boy," she huffed in annoyance.

"I'm eighteen," he grumbled, putting the beer onto the table before making his way towards the stairs.

* * *

"Lucian?"

Levi was about to knock on the door to his bedroom, when it creaked open to reveal Lucian's red-rimmed eyes and desolate face.

The teen opened his mouth, only to get interrupted by the blonde, "I heard everything and I think you're a stupid, nosy bastard."

He turned away, stepped into the room and muttered, "But thanks, anyway."

Levi stared at him, allowing a long silence to hang between them before entering the room. He sat down next to Lucian, where the younger teen had silently offered it.

"Do you, perhaps," Levi offered, "Want to find where your father is?"

Lucian chuckled bitterly, "I don't know."

"Don't you want to know?"

He hesitated, "Maybe… just a little. But not now."

Levi nodded silently.

Lucian let out a huff, "God, Andrina's pathetic."

He peered at the boy, "Why?"

"Do you know that up until now," Lucian shook his head, "All the boyfriends that she's had resembled her husband in some way. If it's not his hair color, then it's his eyes, or his build, or his laughter. She never lets me forget it, crying and accusing me every time she loses him again."

"But she never realized that with every new lover that she picks up, they resemble her ex-husband less and less."

Lucian went silent and turned away to look out the window.

"I'm curious," Levi said suddenly, "What's his name, the ex-husband?"

"Baxter," he answered, "She still kept his last name."

"What a tragedy," Levi sighed.

"It's late," Lucian said, "You should get going."

"I should," he responded but remained seated.

"I'll see you around."

"Mhm."

Lucian turned and stared at him, "Hurry or you'll catch Michael on the way out."

"Oh, right."

The boy watched as he leaves and pulled his legs up to rest against his chest.

* * *

Michael was on his way on when his cellphone rang.

He stopped to fumble about in his bag and pulled it out, looked at it briefly before he answered, "Hello?"

The young man stood listening for a few moments and seemed stunned, "Dad? Is that you?"

* * *

Bonus Scene:

Wallace glanced at his watch, finding that it's already almost dinner time.

Levi hadn't called, giving no indication that he'll be spending time apart from sending the boy home. He considered calling his ward to ask where he was when he heard the door open.

"You're back."

"Hello, Wallace."

Wallace wrinkled his nose and gave Levi a questioning look, "Is that alcohol I smell on you?"

Levi blinked at him and seemed to remember, "Oh, that, I can explain."

"Someone spilled it on you?" Wallace said with a raised brow.

"Exactly," Levi said seriously, "Looks like I do owe my deductive skills to you and why do you make it seem like I'm guilty here?"

He shrugged, "You are, usually."

"On which account?"

"All the people you've offended while you're undercover," Wallace mentioned, "It took me days to get rid of that wine stain off your sweater, L."

"Is it too late to say that I'm sorry?"

"No, it is not," Wallace said almost grumpily, "It's better to be late than never."

"I suppose I should go wash it off."

"You should," Wallace said, "I'll get dinner ready."


End file.
